Summerland Organics Processing Facility 

***PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESPONSES TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS***

The District of Summerland has been reviewing it's current composting operations at the Summerland Sanitary Landfill to determine what improvements/upgrades should be made in order to meet regulatory requirements and advance operational and environmental benefits, including removing Summerland residential food scraps from our garbage for composting and sale.

In order to achieve these goals the District applied for and was awarded with two-thirds funding through the Organics Infrastructure Program for a Summerland Organics Processing Facility. Current composting operations will be discontinued and a new facility will be located (provided the results of the detailed odour mapping are favourable) to the west side of the landfill where waste burial occurs, allowing the current composting area to become a materials diversion centre. The facility will include new receiving, composting, curing, screening and stockpiling areas. The site will have an impermeable surface and leachate control to increase protection of the environment. Composting will occur through an optimized aerated static pile system to reduce odours and greenhouse gas emissions, provide operational efficiencies and shorten the production time. Additionally, the landfill will be fenced for improved vector (bear, etc.) control.

            SUMMERLAND ORGANICS PROCESSING FACILITY-CONCEPT DRAWING
                                       

Upon completion of the Summerland Organics Processing Facility, the District will proceed with removal of residential and agricultural food scraps from its waste stream (please see below for more information), through changes to the curbside collection program and acceptance of hauled material to the Summerland Sanitary Landfill. Community education and information will be provided prior to the start of the program. 

Additionally, the community will have access to a new Class ‘A’ compost product that has been created by diverting their agricultural and residential food scraps, currently collected under the curbside program or hauled to the landfill, from the District’s waste stream. The new compost product will be in addition to the current high-quality Class ‘A’ biosolids compost produced and sold at the landfill.

District staff will now begin working through the initial stages of the project, with design and construction expected to be completed by the summer of 2022 with full operations to be implemented early 2023. Community involvement will be a key factor in the project’s success. The District will provide public engagement opportunities as it progresses. This webpage will be updated as more detail becomes available, to provide easy access to information and responses to questions the community may have regarding this project.

Please submit questions to organics@summerland.ca.

What Areas will be serviced by the Summerland Organics Processing Facility 

The Summerland Organics Processing Facility is for local use only, available to the current Summerland Sanitary Landfill service area: Summerland and Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen Electoral Area ‘F’ (Faulder/West Bench/Meadow Valley). The new facility will provide these service area users with a way to divert organic material they generate out of their garbage and out of the landfill.

                                       

Organics Infrastructure Program Fund 

The District of Summerland is excited to announce that we will receive grant funding for improvements to the Summerland Sanitary Landfill composting operations, from the governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Organics Infrastructure Program.  

The Organics Infrastructure Program will fund two-thirds of eligible project costs for a local Organics Processing Facility which will enable the District to:

 Additional benefits to Summerland will be:

The Summerland Sanitary Landfill services Summerland and Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen Electoral Area ‘F’ (Faulder/West Bench/Meadow Valley). The new facility will provide these service area users with a way to divert organic material they generate out of their garbage and out of the landfill.

Upon completion the community will have access to a new Class ‘A’ compost product that has been created by diverting their agricultural and residential food scraps, currently collected under the curbside program or hauled to the landfill, from the District’s waste stream. The new compost product will be in addition to the current high-quality Class ‘A’ biosolids compost produced and sold at the landfill.

District staff will now begin working through the initial stages of the project, with design and construction expected to be completed by the summer of 2022 and full operations to be implemented early 2023. Community involvement will be a key factor in the project’s success. The District will provide public engagement opportunities as it progresses. This webpage will be updated as more detail is available, for easy access to information and responses to questions the community may have regarding the Summerland Organics Processing Facility Project. Please submit questions to organics@summerland.ca.

Press Release-Ministry of Environment and Climate Change

Organics Infrastructure Fund Media Release-Summerland

More information on the Organics Infrastructure Program is available at: 
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/waste-management/food-and-organic-waste/organic-waste-diversion/organics-infrastructure-program

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/waste-management/food-and-organic-waste/organic-waste-diversion

Next Steps 

District staff are currently working alongside environmental and civil engineering consultants through the preliminary stages of planning and design, i.e. odour modeling, site design, operational planning, leachate management, residential and agricultural food scraps removal plan, curbside collection options and community consultation and education planning.

The District will be providing community engagement and ongoing updates as this project develops.

Will the Summerland Organics Processing Facility Increase Traffic?

The Summerland Organics Processing Facility will not be accepting materials from outside of the existing landfill service area. The amount of materials collected and accepted from within the service area will not increase as a result of the project. What will change is the curbside collection program, i.e. which cart residential food waste is collected in, schedules, etc.. As such, there is little to no anticipated increase in traffic expected.

Summerland Residential Food Scraps Removal from Garbage
*The changes to the curbside program are still to be determined* 

It is estimated that approximately 40% of household waste is organic food waste that can be composted. By removing food waste from the garbage, residents will help the District significantly reduce the volume of garbage buried at the Summerland Sanitary Landfill.

The District is in the initial stages of the Summerland Organics Processing Facility project. At this time staff are investigating the different options for collection of residential food scraps to determine which programs would be most suitable for our community.

One method, which is typical in communities similar to Summerland, is combining residential food scraps with yard & garden waste on a weekly basis, and to alternate the collection of garbage and recycling bi-weekly (once every 2 weeks). It has been shown that the amount of garbage residents produce on a bi-weekly basis will be greatly reduced when both residential food scraps and recycling are removed. Large families have been able to adjust to the changes and are satisfied with bi-weekly garbage collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

***The District is currently creating the 'Responses to frequently asked questions' document and will be posting it shortly***

Please click on the following link to see responses to the most frequently asked questions regarding the Summerland Organics Processing Facility. 

To submit questions please email organics@summerland.ca. Thank you.

Landfill Warnings and Compliance

The Summerland Organics Processing Facility, along with the Scale and Entrance Upgrades Project, will go a long way towards addressing the warning and non-compliance advisory letters brought forward by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in 2017 and 2018. Specifically the combination of these two projects will address the following:

• A qualified professional will prepare the plans and specifications for the facility;
• The plans and specifications for the proposed facility will include proper design and operation for leachate collection and management, including an impermeable surface and leachate management plan;  
• Perimeter fencing for the landfill;
• A plan for how the District could achieve 50% removal of the compost stored at the facility annually; and
• Landfill site signage.

Thanks to a grant from the BC Used Oil Management Association, a new oil return collection facility was installed at the landfill in the fall of 2019, which addressed the non-compliance issue with the previous collection area.

As of 2017, District staff have been documenting and maintaining monitoring and sampling records. In the fall of 2020 the District will have achieved the requirement that these records be retained for a minimum of 36 months.

The remaining items will be addressed by Environmental Services starting in 2020 and moving forward through projects such as the Design Operations and Closure Plan, updates to the landfill Standard Operating and Work Safe Procedures, registration of the Landfill and consistent Annual Reporting.

Council Reports and Presentations 

- Organics Infrastructure Program, July 23, 2018;

- Organics Infrastructure Fund Application Information, February 25, 2019;

- Delegation - GHD Ltd., March 18, 2019;

     - PowerPoint Presentation from GHD Ltd., March 18, 2019;

     - Organics Definitions

- RFD - Grant Application to B.C. Organics Infrastructure Program for a Organics Processing Facility, March 25, 2019;

- RFD - Organic Infrastructure Program - Commitment of DoS Funds, May 27, 2019;

- SOPF Concept Drawing, May 27, 2019.