Trash dumping forces Kamloops to close Ord Road recycling depot

Kamloops City Council has voted to close the Ord Road recycling depot after it became a dumping ground for everything from old televisions to mattresses.

"If we were talking about closing a recycling depot, I would probably be more concerned, but frankly we're talking about closing a make-shift garbage dump," said Mayor Peter Milobar at Nov. 22's council meeting.

One of the major concerns is the contamination of recyclable by non-recyclable materials at the site on the outskirts of towns.

"Even though it's full and it looks like cardboard, it's all going to the garbage dump," said Milobar.

Councillor Tina Lange also supported the closure of the depot.

"We're looking at every increasing cost right across the city," said Lange. "This is an opportunity to save some money."

'Bush' dumping a concern

The decision was not without debate. A number of councillors raised concerns about what the closure will mean for residents on the north shore of Kamloops and how it could impact the community more broadly.

"We recognize there's a fair amount of irresponsibility amongst some of our citizens ... Despite shutting it down and telling people that they have other depots they can go to, I actually anticipate that you might find people doing some bush dumping," said Councillor Dieter Duty.

"It's a very real concern because they'll be too lazy to take it to the next depot and won't be bothered by it one little bit."

Denis Walsh and Donovan Cavers were the two councillors who voted to keep the site open.

"A lot of people use it. In fact, I use it for my business because there's no commercial recycling in Kamloops," said Walsh.

Limited options on north shore

During the meeting councillors were shown some examples of dumping at the Ord Road site, but Walsh said those photos don't compare to what he's seen when he uses the depot.

"I've never seen it in that kind of a shape."

He's concerned the private facilities on the north shore won't have the capacity to take in the additional recyclables and that small businesses will choose to put recyclable materials in the trash rather than travel to an alternate recycling depot.

"To me, that defeats the purpose to keep the recyclables out of our landfill," said Walsh.

The Ord Road Recycling Depot will close at the end of Dec. 2016.