The Summerland landfill has seen a large increase in its number of visits over the past week due to the warmer weather and residents working on projects, both inside and out, while staying home to minimize their risk of exposure to COVID-19. This has resulted in increased health and safety risks to landfill users and staff, long waits in line to enter the landfill and some users rushing through at unsafe speeds and not disposing of their materials where designated in their hurry to leave.

The District of Summerland is requesting the following precautionary measures be adhered to at the Summerland Sanitary Landfill in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, while continuing to meet the solid waste needs of our community and protecting the health and safety of Landfill Users and District and Contractor staff:
• Do not utilize the landfill if you are self-isolating or displaying symptoms of COVID-19.
• Avoid unnecessary visits to the landfill. Make use of your curbside collection services and, if possible, store the materials you wish to bring to the landfill until a later date when it is safer to do so.
• Adhere to Social Distancing guidelines (2m minimum separation) while on site.
• All transactions be paid by debit or on contractor account only, no cash or credit card.
• Place materials only in their designated areas, no mixing of divertible/recyclable materials or inclusion of garbage. Please request guidance if needed or visit www.summerland.ca/solidwaste for information on separating your landfill materials prior to coming.
• Drive slowly and safely while on site, following the 10 km/hr speed limit, and
• Be considerate of other users and staff. This is a difficult time for all.

Additionally, all One-Day Recycling Depots scheduled to be held at the Summerland Arena will be cancelled until further notice. In the interim, the District is requesting that residents store their recyclable materials until such time as the One-Day Recycling Depots may safely start again.

The District is asking that landfill users please follow the precautionary measures requested above to avoiding placing themselves, other landfill users and staff at risk and to prevent the need for restrictive measures to manage unnecessary exposure to COVID-19, up to and including closing the landfill to non-commercial customers. The Summerland Sanitary Landfill is currently open during regular operating hours. The District will provide advanced notice to the community should additional restrictions become necessary.