City of Vancouver's landfill in Delta to remain open for another 20 years | Daily Hive

City of Vancouver's landfill in Delta to remain operational for another 20 years

Vancouver Landfill in Delta. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

A massive artificial hill-like formation near the southwest corner of Burns Bog in Delta will remain a vital facility supporting the Metro Vancouver region’s garbage disposal needs for decades to come.

It was announced today that the Vancouver Landfill — visible from Highway 17 and Highway 19, located within the City of Delta — will continue to collect the region’s waste through until about 2050, following a new agreement between regional and municipal governments. Under a previous agreement, it was expected to close as early as 2030.

The 790-acre landfill is equivalent to a land area roughly 80 per cent of Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The facility has been owned and operated by the City of Vancouver since 1966, when the site first opened.

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According to Metro Vancouver Regional District, this region has one of North America’s highest recycling rates at 65 per cent. Following waste reduction and recycling efforts, which have ramped up drastically in recent decades, about one million tonnes of garbage need to be deposited each year. Of that one million tonnes, 65 per cent goes to the Vancouver Landfill, 25 per cent goes to the regional district’s garbage incinerator — a waste-to-energy facility — in the Big Bend industrial area of South Burnaby. The remaining 10 per cent is transported to remote private landfills.

“Being able to extend the life of the Vancouver Landfill is a win for the entire region,” said Mike Hurley, chair of the regional district’s board of directors and the mayor of Burnaby, in a statement

“We will continue working hard with our partners at the City of Vancouver and City of Delta, and across the region, to manage waste in a responsible and cost‑effective way.”

Vancouver Landfill, situated within the southwest corner of the Burns Bog area in Delta. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

Vancouver Landfill in Delta. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

By enabling the major landfill to accumulate garbage for another two decades, regional residents and businesses will not see over $300 million in cumulative tipping fees for households and businesses in the future, which is deemed a measure to help keep living and business costs low.

This move also follows some public, media, and political criticism over the overall rising cost pressures and fees applied by the regional district in recent years.

“If the landfill were to close as early as 2030, residents in the region would experience added costs, uncertainty, and the environmental impacts of shipping more waste to remote landfills. We will continue to work toward reducing waste and finding effective, sustainable long-term disposal solutions beyond 2050,” said Sarah Kirby-Yung, chair of the regional district’s zero waste committee and a Vancouver city councillor, in a statement.

Vancouver mayor Ken Sim added, “The City of Vancouver is proud that this important asset will continue to serve the region, providing cost-effective and environmentally responsible disposal well into the future thanks to the City’s foresight in solid waste planning.”

Furthermore, it is noted that the landfill has more available capacity than previously estimated due to settlement and the optimization of the site’s operations. Future garbage disposed at the site will continue to be deposited within the existing footprint, with no expansion of the land area for the landfill or increase in the permitted maximum height of the artificial hill-like formations. The final permitted height is 39 metres (128 ft.) above sea level.

Vancouver Landfill in Delta. (City of Vancouver)

As well, as part of the new agreement, $10 million in new investments will be made to enhance the naturalized elements and conservation efforts of Burns Bog, plus $500,000 per year over the life of the landfill. Areas no longer used for landfilling will also be made available for “beneficial use.” Parcels of the landfill site that reached capacity have progressively closed since 2010.

According to the City of Vancouver’s annual regulatory report in 2024 for its Vancouver Landfill operations, 313 acres of the landfill has been progressive closed.

The facility is permitted to accept up to 750,000 tonnes of waste each year, with 733,200 tonnes actually disposed in 2024. As well, during the same year, about 2.1 million cubic metres of leachate and surface runoff water — roughly equivalent to the water held in 840 Olympic-sized swimming pools — were transported to the regional district’s Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment.

Within the past decade, the City of Vancouver and the Government of British Columbia have also made major investments at the Vancouver Landfill to install and expand systems that capture methane and carbon dioxide produced by decaying organic matter — effectively cutting the area’s stink and reducing emissions that would otherwise end up in the atmosphere. In partnership with FortisBC, this landfill biogas is purified and delivered to homes and businesses, allowing the utility to increase the share of renewable natural gas within its overall supply alongside conventional fossil fuel-based natural gas.

In 2024, the landfill’s gas collection network reached a size of 473 collection points. About 70 per cent of the landfill gas was flared throughout the year, with the remainder used for renewable natural gas.

This extended landfill operation is also seen as a win-win for the City of Delta, which stands to gain significant revenue for years to come from continued landfill operations within its jurisdiction. In 2026, Delta’s municipal government is expected to see about $5 million in revenue from the landfill, representing a one-year increase of approximately $700,000.

“This agreement underscores the value of regional collaboration,” said Delta mayor George Harvie. “For Delta residents, it delivers continued financial contributions to the community along with new opportunities for the responsible and productive use of closed sections of the landfill site as operations continue.”

In 2016, the long-time major landfill in Cache Creek serving Metro Vancouver’s needs closed after it reached capacity, and the regional district began to focus more on strategies focused on local facilities and recycling.

In 2023, to handle the volume of garbage that cannot be handled at local facilities and by recycling, the regional government approved $150-million worth of contracts to three companies over five years, including the transport and disposal of waste by truck and rail to a 2019-opened private landfill in Cache Creek in the B.C. interior, and across the border to a landfill in eastern Washington state and a landfill in eastern Oregon.

Last year, the regional district sold its long-held, 10,700-acre (43 sq. km.) Ashcroft Ranch property — located near Cache Creek — to First Nations, instead of proceeding with its previous plan to turn a portion of the site into a major landfill.

Vancouver Landfill in Delta. (City of Vancouver)

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