A local company is on the verge of turning Ottawa's garbage into potential electricity once it gets approval from city councillors.
Plasco Energy Group's made-in-Ottawa technology superheats garbage to turn garbage into gas, using temperatures high enough the trash doesn't burn first.
This gas could then be used to power a turbine, creating electricity.
"The time to get something done in business is now," said Plasco head Rod Bryden. "When you have the arrangements done, just go do it."
Plasco's technology has been sold around the world, although its first commercial plant would be in Ottawa.
City of Ottawa manager Kent Kirkpatrick said the potential deal offers the city plenty of protection if costs are poorly estimated or something goes wrong.
"My opinion is that this agreement has benefits in it for the city of Ottawa that other municipalities that follow won't have," he said.
Maria McRae heads the city's environment committee and said unlike the green bin contract with Orgaworld, these figures are based on actual garbage collection figures and not estimates.
"We produce 300 thousand tons (of garbage) in Ottawa with today's population and staff are 100 per cent sure giving 100 thousand tons of our waste to the gas-plasmification process," she said. "We're not going to end up in an Orgaworld situation."
Without the contract, Bryden hinted the company may not keep its headquarters in Ottawa if it doesn't get the contract.
"The company will certainly be a world scale company with or without that contract," he said. "However, it is unlikely that it would be a world scale company based in Ottawa without that contract."
The environment committee and city council still have to approve this deal.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Norman Fetterley
