Divert Nova Scotia, formerly the Resource Recovery Fund Board, has increased it’s provincial diversion credit funding by $4.6 million, an increase of almost $2 million over last year.
The authorities use what they receive for education, awareness, programs and enforcement.
Last year Divert NS struggled with budgetary issues.
Gus Green, general manager for Wastecheck region 7 says that’s because nothing has changed in the twenty years since Nova Scotia the deposit system for recyclable products hasn’t changed in 20 years since it was first rolled out.
He says costs for enviro-depots continues to climb.
Last year the solid waste authorities were in peril. Municipal units were picking what shortfalls they could but were unable meet all the needs because of their own budgetary constraints.
Now, with a nearly $2 million increase in province-wide diversionary funding, green says things are looking a bit brighter.
“The current fiscal year is looking much better for Wastecheck, in fact for all the regions across the province. last year Divert NS during the touch financial times, the Resource Recovery Fund Board, or Divert as they call themselves now, only made $2.8 million available in diversion credits right across the province, the lowest amount they ever made available.”
Green says the formula used by Divert NS is based on the amount of waste that gets buried in landfills.
“We call it diversion credit funding, but in all honesty it’s really based on the material that gets buried, the amount of things you put in the ground. The assumption being that if it’s not going into the ground then it must be being diverted through, composting, recycling or even re-use and reduce. It’s calculated right across the province, everyone must have a scale and all that material is measured. At the end of the day there’s a calculation that compares your current disposal levels with what we believe we were disposing of back in 1989 and we figure out the difference between the two and that’s how many tonnes you’ve diverted and the total tonnes across the province, a dollar value is associated with that, based on that $4.6 million dollars and you get a certain amount for each tonne you’ve diverted.”
Green says they’re very optimistic that Wastecheck will get a little bit more money.
“We won’t know the exact amount for a little bit longer yet, but we’re confident that i’s going to be more than what was budgeted for which is great because we know there will be other dark days in the future, so hopefully, if there’s a little extra this year it will help us prepare for one of those bad years that will come.
Wastecheck region 7 includes all the towns and municipalities in Digby and Yarmouth Counties.