Program Rollout June 2025

What is Three-Stream?

Three-stream curbside collection is the separation of household waste into three categories: organics, recycling and garbage.

Why Three-Stream?

Curbside collection services offered to residents living in CVRD Electoral Areas vary widely- as all residents have access to curbside recycling, while only some residents have access to curbside garbage and organics collection services. As a result, residents indicated that providing equal access to three-stream curbside collection was a priority during the engagement for the region's Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). As the Cowichan Valley's population is expected to grow to over 100,000 by the year 2040, it is more important than ever to reduce our waste footprint by keeping organics out of the garbage.

Reducing garbage disposal is important as the Cowichan Valley does not have a local landfill, and landfill capacity is limited on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Garbage from the Cowichan Valley is transported via truck, barge and rail service more than 700km to a landfill in Washington State. Long-distance transportation of waste materials is becoming increasingly expensive, difficult and dangerous due to the floods and fires associated with climate change.

What will the service include?

The CVRD Board of Directors passed a motion that the Three-Stream service should include food and yard waste, recycling, garbage and glass collection for all eligible residents in all Electoral Areas when the service is implemented in the spring/summer 2025. For more information about the Motion, see the News Release.

What will the service cost?

On December 11, the CVRD Board approved the 2025 curbside collection utility fee for $345 per household across all Electoral Areas, consistent with what was shared with residents during the second phase of community engagement. The new fee rate is scheduled to take effect in January 2025, with the service commencing in early June and curbside utility bills being issued later in the month, as is typical. For a high-level overview of the utility fee, see the December 16 News Release. For a more detailed breakdown of the utility fee see:

• Why will Electoral Areas A, B, C and H pay the same fee as Areas D, E, F, G and I?
• Why am I paying for a full year of service when three-stream doesn’t start until June?

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Project History

Phase1 Community Engagement (Spring 2022)

In May 2022, the CVRD launched the three-stream curbside collection Phase 1 Community Engagement process. The goal of Phase 1 engagement was to listen and learn from the community about priorities, concerns, and preferences for implementing a three-stream curbside collection service.

In Phase 1 engagement, we learned from the community that:

1. There is overall support for three-stream curbside collection service in the CVRD Electoral Areas. Residents see this service as a benefit to their household and the larger community.
2. Continued education is needed to support the implementation plan.

3. There are concerns about service and delivery costs, with an acknowledgment that creative solutions are needed to keep costs manageable.

4. Reducing the amount of waste being sent to the landfill is critical, as is offering convenient waste disposal services.
   
   
5. Residents want to understand what can be done to minimize conflict with wildlife and support the local economy by working with local waste management companies.

The community expressed a desire to expand the curbside program to include other materials such as glass and yard waste. There was also an acknowledgement of urban and rural residents' diverse waste management service needs.

To learn more about Phase 1 of Community Engagement, see the Two-page Summary Report or the Full Report.

Phase 2 of Community Engagement (Spring 2023)

The CVRD launched Phase 2 Community Engagement in the spring of 2023, with two feasible options for the three-stream curbside collection service shared for community feedback. These options incorporated what was learned in Phase 1 of the Community Engagement, best practices for curbside collection, lessons learned in other jurisdictions and the requirements in the SWMP. To learn more about the results from Phase 2 of Community Engagement, see the Summary Report and the full Findings Report.