Landfill rates are going to increase over the next three years, but will be limited due to the economic downturn.
Landfill rates are based on operational costs, the cost of infrastructure upgrades and post-closure care. Mayor Gerald Aalbers says that rates are consistent across the board for everyone.
“In some cases there was a few rates that appeared lower for out of town then in town. So what you’ll see is that they’re equal or in some cases they’ll be higher. Certainly tried to be competitive, but also fair to all that use the landfill.”
Fees are dependent on the amount of waste and the waste product, as well as if it is inside the City or outside. For 2018 tipping fees for commercial garbage in town will be $72 per tonne and for out of town it’ll be $120 for 2018. The fees will increase each year, for example $72 will become $74 and $120 will increase to $123 in 2019.
Aalbers says that the location and size of the City matters when it comes to increasing costs.
“It totally depends on where you’re at, if you’re Edmonton or Calgary you can imagine it’s much higher. Calgary hauls their landfill to Coronation, Edmonton hauls it to Ryley and we don’t have those trucking costs. So that elevates the cost dramatically when you start putting in the truck and sending it that way.”
Aalbers adds that the City is not making an extensive amount of money because they are putting some money away in a reserve to deal with landfill issues down the road.
If Council approves the rates they will be in effect by June 1.