Free Landfill Day events in Kamloops on the chopping block

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The City of Kamloops is looking at eliminating Free Landfill Day at the Mission Flats and Barnhartvale dumps.

The events, which offer residents a way to dispose of garbage and debris collected as part of community cleanup efforts free of charge, began in 2005. The city initially hosted two events per year, one in the spring and one in the fall. However, that changed in 2015 when the fall version was nixed. Since then, Free Landfill Day has been held in the spring.

In a report to city council, administration says Free Land Day has transitioned from an incentive to promote community cleanup to something residents take advantage of to avoid tipping fees for their own personal garbage. This has led to an increase in the amount of recyclables being sent to the landfill; the city says since all residential waste is accepted for free during the event, the financial incentive for people to separate their recyclables from their garbage is removed.

Over the past five years, the Mission Flats dump has received more than twice the normal amount of customer activity during Free Landfill Day events (held on Sundays), the report shows, and almost four times as much waste when compared to typical spring Sundays.

Other concerns staff point out include longer-than-normal wait times, vehicles idling for long periods of time, unsecured customer loads, customers not following on-site direction, verbal abuse toward city staff, and public urination while waiting in line.

Administration is recommending the city scrap Free Landfill Day and support community cleanup efforts by pushing residents and community groups to apply for tipping fee waivers.

City council will vote on the matter on Tuesday, July 14.