As a result of this change local governments are no longer required to account for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles, equipment and machinery required for the collection, transportation and diversion of packaging and printed paper, in their annual Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP) reports. This takes effect starting with the 2017 CARIP reporting year.
In communities where the same trucks are used to collect both packaging and printed paper as well as other waste, local governments are still asked to account for the GHG emissions from other waste collection, based on transparent estimates derived from cost shares, volumes, kilometres of use, etc. The Becoming Carbon Neutral - Guidance on Including Contracted Emissions in Local Government Corporate Inventories document provides proxy approaches that could be implemented to separate the emission counts of packaging and printed paper from other waste collection services.
Since 2007, 187 BC local governments have voluntarily signed onto the BC Climate Action Charter, committing to being carbon neutral in their corporate operations. To support this commitment, the joint Provincial-UBCM Green Communities Committee (GCC) developed a Carbon Neutral Framework for local governments that defines local governments’ corporate GHG emissions as those from local governments’ delivery of “traditional services.” Until now, the collection, transportation and diversion of residential packaging and printed paper, including through contractual or partnership arrangements, was included in the list of traditional services.
To support local governments in meeting their commitments under the BC Climate Action Charter, the GCC has developed a number of guidance documents, which will be updated in the coming year to reflect the change:
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