POWELL RIVER, B.C.- At last week’s meeting, Powell River Council directed staff to write a report on proposed amendments to the city’s existing sewer bylaw that would affect garbage disposal at future sites.
This would ban garburators (also known as garbage disposals) in new construction and phase out their use in commercial kitchens around town, like at the Powell River Regional Hospital.
Garburators are used to shred food into pieces that are small enough to pass through plumbing.
The hospital garburates all of its food waste. The Sustainability Committee brought the action forward to council.
The committee noted that garburated food waste gets discharged into the sanitary water sewer system and can clog pipes.
This could negatively impact the city’s new wastewater treatment plant.
At the meeting, council also voted in favour to write a letter of support for the Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) as presented. The letter will be added to the plan when the Powell River Regional District (PRRD) submits it to the Ministry of Environment.
Last year, the PRRD was successful in acquiring a $6 million grant for the rehabilitation of the Marine Avenue transfer site. The grant was also for reusing the remaining material on the site to develop a Resource Recovery Centre (RRC).
Part of the process of the RRC is the approval of the Solid Waste Management Plan.
