The Riondel recycling depot will soon only be open one day a week.
At the moment, it’s open Mondays and Thursdays from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at 232 Fowler Street. But the Regional District of Central Kootenay says it as of July 22, it will only be open Wednesday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
According to a news release from the RDCK, the change follows direction from the board in February, where staff were asked to reduce service levels to cut costs and look at the depot’s long-term viability.
A full review of the site will be considered as part of the 2027 budget prorcess, with a focus on how much use the site gets, the release said.
Those who can’t make it to the Riondel depot will have to go to the Crawford Bay transfer station, which is open Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from April 1 to Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The hours change to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the same days from Oct. 1 to March 31. Crawford Bay accepts more materials that aren’t allowed at Riondel, like foam and flexible plastics.
The RDCK said Riondel doesn’t met requirements to have its own transfer station because the Crawford Bay depot is less than 20 kilometers away.
In 2018, the Riondel commission of management established a standalone garbage service, paid solely by local residents. While the cost of hauling is paid by the community, the overall cost of the service was subsidized by the RDCK recycling depot operations.
The Riondel commission has recommended that the independent waste disposal service hours will also be reduced to Wednesdays only, to align with the recycling depot hours.
A study completed in 2024 identified three standalone satellite recycling depots that were less than a 30-minute drive to other RDCK facilities and that receive less than 50 kilograms per hour of recyclables: Riondel, Kokanee, and Winlaw.
