A vessel carrying the 1,500 tonnes of Canadian garbage from Manila, Philippines arrived in British Columbia on Saturday morning.
Over the long weekend, dock workers will be unloading the containers from the ship.
Originally the trash containers were expected to reach Canada on June 20, but the 69 containers of cargo had to be transferred onto a larger vessel.
The vessel Anna Maersk, which is carrying the waste, is estimated to arrive at the Delta Port Terminal just outside of Vancouver at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
After arrival, the load will be taken to a Waste-to-Energy facility in Burnaby, nearly a 40 kilometre drive away, where it will be incinerated.
According to Metro Vancouver, the trash will be transported from the port to the incinerator by way of “intermodal” transport, meaning both rail and truck.
When asked about the mode of transportation, Vice President of Public Affairs for GCT Global Container Terminals Inc, Marko Dekovic said the containers will be leaving the port by truck.
British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure sets weight limits for truck hauls at 24,000 kg, meaning it could require upwards of 60 loads to move the 1,500 tonnes of garbage.
Local dock workers also present at the site told True North that the 69 containers would have to be hauled individually with 69 trucks.
According to a report on emissions by the Conference Board of Canada, trucks produce three times as much CO2 emissions than transportation by rail.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has praised the decision to have the garbage burned.
“Anchors aweigh! The containers of garbage have departed the Philippines and will arrive in Canada in four weeks — where the waste will be turned into energy that’ll power homes in British Columbia,” McKenna tweeted.
