British Columbia

_ Vancouver to start curbside rec

Vancouver will join the growing number
of North American cities in reeycling
instead of dumping household refuse,
thanks to a unanimous vote in city council
Feb. 21.

But the city decided to hand the most
lucrative side of garbage recycling —
commercial refuse from the downtown
core — to the private sector, over the objec-
tions of the aldermen from the Committee
of Progressive Electors.

In moving to establish a Downtown
Resource Recovery Plant and to put the
operation out to private tender, the domi-
nant Non-Partisan Association also contra-
vened the wishes of most of the delegations
who spoke for more than four hours at the
lengthy evening council session.

Representatives of community and envir-
onmental groups, and citizens speaking for
themselves, praised a report from the city’s
engineering department that recommended
a curbside recycling program that will be
phased in through initial voluntary com-
pliance in about a year.

But speakers, representing groups such
as Citizens Action Network, the Canadian
Union of Public Employees and the Society
Promoting Environmental Conservation,
called on council to reject the idea of the
resource recovery plant, planned for city
owned land on Station Street near the
downtown eastside.

The engineering department had in fact
recommended the question be deferred for
a year, pending studies on toxicity, provin-
cial and federal standards, markets for the
plant’s products, and the rapidly evolving

garbage recycling technology.

But NPA council members, including
Mayor Gordon Campbell and independent
Carole Taylor, heeded the wishes of a few
business representatives who argued for
immediately opening tenders for the plant
and indicated their willingness to enter the
bidding competition for the lucrative com-
mercial/industrial refuse trade.

That included T.E. Rattray, of Wastech,
the U.S. based company which operates
recycling plants in the United States and the
district of Coquitlam, and which has the
contract to truck garbage from the Greater
Vancouver Regional District to the contro-
versial landfill in Cache Creek.

Rattray, a former official with Genstar
waste removal company, and before that a
director of Environment Canada’s waste
management branch, admitted in an
exchange with COPE Ald. Libby Davies
that Wastech was only interested in the
commercial garbage business. Curbside
recycling is not “cost-effective” for private
business, he acknowledged.

Davies said it was foolish to proceed with
tenders for the plant when no public hear-
ings had been held and no studies per-
formed. She cited speakers’ comments in
arguing that the plant “privatized waste
management” without solving the key
problem: toxins mixed into the garbage
stream.

Davies said the issue of contaminated
soils in the north shore of False Creek
should warn the city against getting locked
into the deal. It involves a 12-year contract
for the firm which successfully bids for the

right to build a plant on the city’s Station
Street lot, and to market products gleaned
from downtown refuse.

COPE colleagues Bruce Eriksen: and
Harry Rankin said that the plant prdject
allowed the private sector access to the most
profitable part of recycling, leaving the city
to deal with disposing of the unproductive
remainder.

Carol Cameron of CUPE Local 1004, the
union of the city’s outside workers, said
visits to Seattle’s two recycling plants —
where garbage is separated on site, instead
of at the source — proved that the system
was too costly and probably harmful to
workers. And she said lack of at-source
separation “does nothing to educate the
public (about conservation) or encourage
waste reduction.”

COPE aldermen initially approved the
recycling plant back in 1986. But the con-
cept then was a publicly owned and oper-
ated facility, Eriksen said in a later
interview.

Despite the objections of COPE and the
majority of delegates, a motion from NPA
Ald. George Puil to take tenders imme-
diately and report back to council in four
months passed in a 7-3 vote.

Council was unanimous in adopting the
recommendations facilitating a residential
curbside recycling program. It will involve
the purchase of specialized garbage trucks,
special containers and other items prior to
going on stream in the city’s east end in
about a year’s time.

The project, which will be voluntary at
least in the initial stages and will affect only

The city of Vancouver was declared a°
nuclear weapons free zone (NWEZ) in
April, 1983. That declaration is a special
pride to Vancouverites because it reflects
our commitment to end the arms race and
build for peace. Vancouver’s NWEZ sta-
tus makes it part of a growing interna-
tional movement of NWF Zs, and nuclear-
free zones (NFZ).

I recently attended the 4th International
Conference of Nuclear Free Zone local
authorities, held in Eugene, Ore. More
than 200 delegates representing peace
groups and municipalities from 16 coun-
tries exchanged information and held dis-
cussions on the issue facing the peace
movement. It was an exciting and extraor-
dinary event that demonstrated the grow-
ing strength and expansion of NWFZs
around the world.

Seven representatives from Montreal
and Vancouver made up the Canadian
presence at the conference. For each of us
it was a rare opportunity to discuss the
direction of Canadian NWEFZs while
learning about developments around the
world. Even with national and regional
differences the movement is heading in a
common direction that seeks to give real
substance to a NWEZ declaration. Here
are a few brief highlights of the conference
discussions:

@® Many nuclear-free zones, particu-
larly in the U.S., are implementing peace
conversion policies. The Peace Conver-
sion Commission of the city of Chicago
(the largest single NFZ city anywhere) is
working on a plan for the conversion of
nuclear weapons work to peaceful and
productive use. This kind of work is at the
cutting edge of the peace movement and
poses a direct challenge to the military
industrial complex.

@ Many NFZs have enacted “‘selective
purchasing” policies that require the
municipality to purchase goods and servi-
ces from companies not involved in
armaments work. Berkeley, Calif. has
made impressive progress in this area.

N-free zones a worldwide movement

® Many cities (asin Canada) are noting ©

the direct link between the lack of federal
funds for social programs and the enor-
mous budget expenditures for military
purposes. The U.S. Conference of Mayors
commissioned a study last year which
found that between 1981 and 1988 urban
grant-in-aid and social programs suffered
cumulative spending cuts of almost $60
billion. By contrast the increase in military
spending was $328 billion. The report
stated that “there is a net gain of 6,600 jobs
on average for every $1 billion shifted
from military spending to these urban
programs.” ‘

@ There are now 1,354 NFZs in Japan.

@ Reports from the British and West

German NFZ movements show increas-
ing concerns with the high safety risk of
transporting nuclear weapons, whether by
air, sea, or land: West German delegates
told the conference that there have been
137 accidents in three years involving mil-
itary flights in that country. Some of these
crashes were “seconds” away from
ground nuclear reactors.

® US. military strategy is increasingly
focusing on sea-based nuclear weapons.
There is growing public opposition
around the world to U.S. nuclear capable
warships using local ports. Massive cam-
paigns in the U.S., Japan, the South

. Pacific, Europe and Canada are again on

the cutting edge “to disarm the seas.” A
Greenpeace representative reported that
there are now 500 nuclear reactors at sea
and that U.S. warships make visits to 41
countries.

@ Although some of these develop-
ments are frightening, and clearly show us
that we cannot be lulled into thinking that
recent disarmament agreements mean
peace is on the way, there is also great
hope and strength in NFZs around the
globe.

Many countries are making great
headway in building national coalitions
and associations of NFZs. The Nether-
lands has 100 local authorities (represent-
ing almost half the population) belonging
to a national network.

Because many U.S. local authorities
were in attendance, the 4th International
Conference also became the venue and
opportunity for U.S. delegations to make
a decision to found a U.S. national associ-
ation of NFZs.

The activities and discussions of the
conference clearly showed me that we
have a lot of work to do in Canada. Right
now there are 178 NFZs in Canada,
including the provinces of Ontario, and
Manitoba, and the Yukon and North
West Territories. We are on the verge of
forming a national association of NWFZs.

The City of Montreal has recently set up
a Peace Commission and they are begin-
ning to seek ways and means of imple-
menting their 1986 NWEZ.

The issue of U.S. warships visiting Can-
adian ports is also a major challenge for
us. The peace movement in Vancouver is
preparing to appear before Vancouver city
council in the next few weeks to push for
adoption of a resolution that will help
declare our port a NWFZ.

Canada’s peace movement and the rise
of NWFZs have received international
recognition. We know we are part of a
world wide movement and struggle to rid
the globe of nuclear weapons.

The conference at Eugene demon-
strated that NWEFZs and local municipali-
ties around the world are a significant part
of this, and are leaders in the campaign to
create a peaceful world without nuclear
weapons.

2 e Pacific Tribune, February 27, 1989

BRUCE ERIKSEN

single-family residences, involves at-source
separation of plastics, glass, metals and
newspapers. A report on the timing of the
project, and how the refuse will be mar-
keted, is to be prepared by city staff.
Council adopted additional motions
from Davies that a citizens advisory com-
milttee on recycling be established, and that
council, following a suggestion from
CUPE, €ncourage the school and parks
boards to institute at-source separation j
all their buildings, ms
he council members also
Davies’ proposal to toughen up ones
mendation Setting targets for reducing the
amount of residential garbage trucked to

the Burns Bog landfill j i
cab Room in Delta. It increased

from 10 per cent, Co

city target setin 1985. it amo
; unts t
51 per cent reduction a

Cache Creek
dump opposed

CACHE CREEK
Creek_and Ashcroft
human blockade if

jue EDD, a reformation of the Pollu-
a reness Campaign Coalition, is pr
testing the Environment Ministry’s de a
to extend a 1987 interim permit Fe ihe
dump, and are asking for help fro :
organizations. a

ey launched th
board turned Hote ails afteran appeal

TOup spokesperson and

J ohn McNamer called the pr. Seca

Ocess “a joke.”

pany’s Privately fina
pleted and analyzed.” hy

ycling

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