Just like composting takes time, so does a decision on where to locate a composting facility in the eastern part of Metro Vancouver.

“They’re still working on it,” said Mayor Ernie Daykin after a meeting of the regional government’s waste committee Wednesday.

A composting plant that will handle waste from the western part of the Lower Mainland will be in Richmond. Locations in Maple Ridge and Surrey are being considered as sites for a second plant.

“A couple spots we were looking at was land in the [Agricultural] Land Reserve,” Daykin said.

But some on the committee were questioning whether farmland should be used for such an operation.

The regional government wants to reduce the garbage it pumps out and hopes that through two composting plants it can treat about 12 per cent of the waste stream.

While Metro Vancouver board members were discussing the Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle one added there was a fourth R – recession.

That’s seen a reduction in the volume of trash trucked to Metro Vancouver waste facilities.

In January 2008, 118,000 tonnes of trash were processed.

For the same month this year, it had dropped to 108,000 tonnes. February dropped even more, down to 95,000 tonnes.

Its expected the Maple Ridge or Surrey plant will process 60,000 tonnes of waste annually.