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SLRD composting plan gaining momentum

The plan to build a central composting plant in Squamish to serve the Sea to Sky Corridor has already cleared several hurdles – it has the support of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, approval in principle from Squamish council, and can c

The plan to build a central composting plant in Squamish to serve the Sea to Sky Corridor has already cleared several hurdles – it has the support of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, approval in principle from Squamish council, and can count on Whistler and Pemberton councils to give the thumbs up.

The cost of building the proposed composting facility, which is estimated to be $4.5 million to handle up to 50 metric tonnes of waste each day, or approximately 18,000 tonnes each year, will come out of local government solid waste budgets. Operating costs for Carney’s Waste Systems will be covered by tipping fees and by the sale of the composted material.

The deal breaker, according to Owen Carney, the owner and operator of Carney’s Waste Systems, is the guaranteed support of all levels of government, and a guarantee of feedstock – solid, liquid and wood waste – for the facility.

"(18,000 tonnes) is how much feedstock we need, or I’m not doing it. We’ve crunched the numbers, and without these guarantees we don’t break even, and we’re not covering our own costs," said Carney, who discussed the plans for the composting system at the monthly AWARE meeting on Dec. 5.

One of the guarantees he needs is for participating municipalities and the SLRD to agree to make composting part of their bylaws, and to put an end to wood burning in the corridor. The composting technology needs a steady supply of wood and yard waste – about 70 per cent of the total feedstock – to function properly.

To gauge the feasibility of the composting facility, Carney’s conducted a pilot project at Whistler involving a few local hotels and restaurants. Within a short period of time, they were collecting 50 tonnes of compostable waste a month, half of which was contributed by the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

"We got 50 tonnes of kitchen waste without even trying," said Carney. "It should be easy to get the kind of feedstock we need for this thing."

When mixed with the proper quantities of wood and yard waste, that 50 tonnes becomes almost 150 tonnes a month, or a tenth of the materials required.

That waste is being shipped to a composting facility in the Lower Mainland, but could be diverted to the proposed composting facility in Squamish, which would require about five acres and will be located next to the recycling centre.

If Carney’s gets the kind of guarantees it needs to move forward, they will submit an application to the provincial government. If all of the government agencies involved give their approval, the facility could be built and collecting waste by fall of 2003.

The system they chose to build is the Wright In-Vessel Composting System, which has been used in more than 55 installations around the world. Its list of customers includes the Canadian military, NASA, the State of New York, the Ontario Science Centre, and various municipal waste processors in the U.K.

Carney said he spent more than three years travelling the world and researching the different technologies that were available, and after weighing the alternatives they selected a company that originated in Powell River.

"We toured a lot of facilities, and this is the best. This is the Cadillac of composters," said Carney.

The system will utilize a pair of enclosed flow-through tunnels that can each accept a tonne of compostable materials each day. Additional tunnels can be added in the future to increase the capacity for the cost of approximately $1 million each.

The process starts outside the facility, where all of the organic, compostable materials are mixed together in their proper proportions inside a compost centre building. From there, the mix is dropped onto a large metal tray with holes in the bottom to allow air and moisture to pass through the mix.

Every day the trays are pushed further into the tunnel with a hydraulic ram, and a new tray is added.

Once inside the tunnel, pumps circulate air through the bottom of the mix, and recycled water is sprayed over the top.

The flow of oxygen and water helps maintain the temperature at a constant rate. The mix heats up as beneficial bacteria in the mix feed on the organic materials, multiply, and die. In the process, they kill almost all of the potentially dangerous or unhealthy bacteria in the compost.

This process is known as thermophilic digestion. The temperature is 55 degrees Celsius in the loading zone, and the temperature is allowed to increase to 72 degrees Celsius further down the tunnel in the pasturization zone to kill any remaining organisms.

In the unloading zone, the temperature drops to around 52 to 54 degrees Celsius for optimal biodegration.

During this process, the good bacteria will continue to move towards the newly added compost in loading area as the mix is digested.

In addition, a set of sprinners after the loading zone remixes the materials, and ensures that the feedstock is moist enough for the next phase.

From the loading zone to the unloading zone, a distance of about 85 metres, the composting process takes 14 days, After that point the composted material has to sit, or cure, for about 30 days before it can be used. For every 50 tonnes of compostable materials fed into the system, it will produce approximately 25 tonnes of high-grade compost. That compost will be sold regionally for approximately $20 a cubic metre.

The facility can handle any organic waste, including meat, dairy products, plants, and wood and paper waste.

Carney believes a composting system won’t have to cost the taxpayers anything. Tipping rates for businesses are the same as for the landfill, and less than a third of the price of dumping wood and yard waste.

Carney’s trucks will be equipped to handle the waste from large businesses and strata corporations in town, and households will be able to dump their biodegradable waste at the existing recycling and garbage compactor sites on Nesters Road and in Function Junction.

"We can’t do everything, people are going to have to take a little responsibility in separating their waste, but people have been good about that. We don’t expect this to be a big thing, a big adjustment for people," said Carney. "We’re looking at ways to make it as easy as possible for people."

In 1989, the B.C. government made an amendment to the Waste Management Act that required all regional districts to create solid waste management plans. They also required regional districts and municipalities to reduce solid waste by 50 per cent.

Last year, Carney’s announced that they had succeeded in reaching this level with the help of reduction, reuse and recycling strategies. With the success of that program, Carney said the next target identified by the SLRD and local governments was composting.

According to a study by consultants, the two-tunnel composting system can reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill by 17 per cent.

"That’s the number we’re using for budgeting, but I think we could easily double that. Easily. Take a look at your own garbage, and take a look at all the organic materials in there. We can take papers, paper cups, McDonald’s wrappers, anything that decomposes. That’s everything besides metal and plastic, basically," said Carney.

Once the application for the facility has been filed and he has the solid approval of local governments, Carney will be holding public meetings on the facility to answer questions from residents and businesses.