There will be a change in the residential garbage and recycling contractor in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) as of September, but impacted residents may not notice. No changes are proposed to the curbside service nor the garbage or food waste container requirements.
At the July 25 Board meeting, local firm Salish Soils Environmental was awarded a contract that covers both garbage and curbside recycling services. That agreement will run until 2031 and will net the supplier $8.22 million.
Salish and AJM Disposal Services have been pinch hitting for the SCRD’s most recent rural garbage and recycling collection contractor, Waste Management, after that firm declined a two year contract extension earlier this year. Since 2020, Salish and AJM had been subcontractors for Waste Management, handling curbside food collection duties.
According to a staff report on the meeting agenda, Salish was the only firm to submit a qualified bid for the contract.
Higher fees are anticipated, starting in 2025 to cover the change and inflation to the costs associated with supplying the services. The staff report noted “the proposed 2025 user fee will be presented for the Board’s consideration in November… it is estimated that the annual increase to user fees for curbside collection will be at minimum $25.00 per household starting in 2025 with cumulative increases for each subsequent year.”
In an committee meeting earlier that same day, elected officials reviewed results of 2024's second quarter operations. Those showed rural regional garbage collection volumes at 426 tonnes from January to June, up from 418 tonnes in the same portion of last year.
For curbside food waste collection, rural SCRD areas with this service had 237 tonnes picked up in the first six months of 2024, down from 290 tonnes during those months in 2023.
