Our blue box recycling contract with the CRD is for the collection and delivery of residential blue box recycling. This is about two-thirds of our annual budget.
For 25 years, recognizing the challenges and costs Galiano businesses would face managing their own commercial (ICI) recycling, GIRR has by donation allowed commercial recycling at our depot during normal hours and has further accommodated businesses during this pandemic with additional opening hours to process commercial recycling streams. Pender, Saturna, and Salt Spring island recycling depots do not allow any Commercial (ICI) recycling. Pender and Salt Spring have commercial waste companies that do this.
The COVID19 Pandemic has placed additional challenges on staff and our facilities.
Our number 1 priority during this pandemic is to ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers, and community.
Our facility is mandated to be open two days per week for residential recycling.
All materials that are collected during opening hours each week must be left, untouched, for three days before staff members can sort, process and prepare for trucking off-island on the fourth. This delay poses new operational challenges as all materials from the previous week must be stored, kept dry, processed, and loaded the following week before we open again to our community. We cannot process materials at this time when we are open to the public.
We are just commencing our first week of regular two-day operation.
We are closely monitoring the volume of materials that we are collecting and understanding how this impacts our ability to process materials from the previous week before new materials arrive. There are many regulations, requirements, and moving parts.
Finding Solutions
We hear your concerns. We are very aware that this is a difficult time for all our local businesses. We are taking steps to build solutions to our island’s Commercial recycling needs.
