Composting will increase waste diversion rate by 10 per cent
Guelph, Ontario, September 27, 2011 –Guelph's organic waste is once again being turned into clean, useful compost with the opening of the city's new Organic Waste Processing Facility.
The Organic Waste Processing Facility uses aerobic, in-vessel composting technology, which uses less energy and generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than transporting organic waste long distances for processing or landfilling. An education room, currently being completed at the facility will, once open, provide an interactive educational experience about organic waste processing for school groups and the public.
“The Organic Waste Processing Facility is a great example of what the federal Gas Tax Fund offers to communities,” said the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. “This project has created jobs that support the local economy, and more importantly, it leaves a green legacy that benefits residents by providing a local, long-term solution to managing the City’s organic waste.”
"This is a very proud moment for our community," said Mayor Karen Farbridge. "This new facility provides a local, long-term solution to managingGuelph's organic waste. Today, we are re-establishingGuelph's leadership position as a community that responsibly manages its own waste."
The facility accepted its first truckload of organic waste this morning at an official opening event. Organic waste thatGuelphresidents and businesses leave at curbside will now be composted at the facility, which is part of the City's Waste Resource Innovation Centre onDunlop Drive. This is expected to increaseGuelph's waste diversion rate by 10 per cent, enabling the City to achieve its overall diversion target of 55 per cent by 2011.
Guelph's former composting plant closed in 2006, and since then organic waste has been shipped to an energy-from-waste facility inNew YorkState.
The facility is designed to process 30,000 tonnes of organic material per year.Guelphgenerates approximately 10,000 tonnes per year. To take advantage of its excess capacity, which was included to ensure efficiencies of scale and allow for future population growth, the facility will accept organic waste from other municipalities, which will reduce operating and capital costs.
Environmental controls incorporated into the design include air curtains on the bay doors in the tipping floor area, a closed top design with a 47.5 metre-tall biofilter stack, and the use of naturally occurring microbes that degrade odour-causing compounds in the exhaust air, releasing clean air back into the environment.
The total budget for the Organic Waste Processing Facility was $32,825,000. Gas Tax funds provided by the Government of Canada contributed $4,688,000 to the project.
“The federal Gas Tax Fund acknowledges that all orders of government must work together to address the pressing need for infrastructure investment in our municipalities,” said Gary McNamara, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). “Stable and predictable, the Gas Tax Fund is supporting long-term investment in local priority projects right acrossOntario.”
The federal Gas Tax Fund provides municipalities with a stable and predictable source of funding for environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure. Funding is also available for planning projects that contribute to the sustainability of communities and regions.
The Government of Canada extended the Gas Tax Fund to 2014 resulting in $746 million in funding annually for municipal infrastructure inOntario. Between 2010 and 2014, the City ofGuelphwill receive over $28 million from the Government of Canada’s Gas Tax Fund.
For further information contact:
Pierre Floréa
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
613-991-0700
Dean Wyman
General Manager
Solid Waste Resources
519-822-1260 x 2053
dean.wyman@guelph.ca
Kate Sullivan
Communications Assistant
Mayor’s Office
519-822-1260 x 2558
kate.sullivan@guelph.ca
InfrastructureCanada
613-948-1148
or toll-free 1-877-250-7154
