When the City of Victoria launches kitchen scrap collection in January 2013, the plan is to truck it to a processing facility in Cobble Hill.

It involves a 48-kilometre commute over the Malahat. The distance was the main reason city staff B次元官网网址渟trongly recommendedB次元官网网址� against introducing the new service.

The landscape of local opportunities, however, is changing.

Three facilities within the capital region are in varying stages of readiness.

Each offers different advantages, including shorter trucking distances, valuable byproducts and cheaper processing prices.

First, a proposal on a site in Sooke, called South Island Organics, would knock approximately 10 kilometres off the commute.

Once it secures a feedstock agreement from a sizeable municipality such as Victoria or Saanich, it could open within six months, said Paul Hooper, South Island OrganicsB次元官网网址� general manager.

B次元官网网址淭ipping fees could be potentially 30 to 40 per cent less (than the cityB次元官网网址檚 current estimates),B次元官网网址� said Hooper.

Second, Ian Vantreight of Vantreight Farms proposes a facility on the Peninsula, offering a significantly closer option.

HeB次元官网网址檚 pitched an anaerobic digester, which captures greenhouse gas emissions and transforms them into fuel and fertilizer.

These added features, however, require a 12-month start-up time and higher capital costs.

Third, Stanhope Farm, also based in Central Saanich, is already operating. It launched a compost facility known as Foundation Organics earlier this year. So far, they cater to commercial clientele, but the facility could ramp up operations to process municipal waste.

All three facilities hope to win the cityB次元官网网址檚 bid, and the stakes are high.

While Victoria has taken the lead on kitchen scrap collection, many municipalities in the region are likely to follow suit in advance of a ban on organic material at the Hartland Landfill. In total, the Capital Regional District estimated the region produces 14,000 tonnes of kitchen waste annually, for a total contract worth between $3.3 million and $4.3 million per year.

Victoria, however, is not considering any of the local processing options at this time.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e made arrangements with the CRD for them to look after our kitchen scraps,B次元官网网址� said Terry Snow, in charge of civic services with the city.

B次元官网网址淭hese new facilities are just getting established. Until they are established, we probably wonB次元官网网址檛 be moving outside of the CRD. But itB次元官网网址檚 a year out, so who knows?B次元官网网址�

Signing on with the CRD involves hauling kitchen scraps to the Hartland Landfill, and paying a $107-per-tonne fee to have the organic waste transported to Fisher Road Recycling in Cobble Hill for processing.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 how View Royal and Oak Bay have conducted their kitchen scrap collection pilot projects, and itB次元官网网址檚 an option the CRD has extended to all municipalities in the region.

Come June, however, the CRDB次元官网网址檚 contract with Fisher Road facility will expire. It opens up the option to choose a local processing plant.

B次元官网网址淚f the board decides that the CRD shall continue to play a role in the processing of kitchen scraps, we would issue a tender for the works as per CRD policy,B次元官网网址� said Anke Bergner, a planner in the CRDB次元官网网址檚 environmental sustainability department.

B次元官网网址淲e expect to get direction on this from our board by the spring.B次元官网网址�

Hooper is eager to start the conversation.

South Island Organics was among the facilities which applied to process organics for the CRD, before the regional board cancelled the initiative in December 2010.

B次元官网网址淚 want to continue to work with the CRD to get a solution,B次元官网网址� said Hooper. ItB次元官网网址檚 in all the taxpayersB次元官网网址� interest to have just one regional processing facility, he said.