McNab/Braeside working to bring garbage steaming plant to Ottawa Valley

MCNAB/BRAESIDE, Ont. -

The township of McNab/Braeside is looking to scrap the traditional ways the region disposes of garbage by bringing in a unique steam recycling garbage plant.

Sustane Technology currently operates a steaming garbage plant in Chester, N.S. McNab/Braeside mayor Tom Peckett says the township and Sustane have had a signed memorandum of understanding in place since 2018.

"It recycles 90-plus per cent of all the garbage that comes here," Peckett tells CTV News.

"The homeowners won't have to sort anything. They'll just have to put their kitchen waste in a green garbage bag and put it at the curb. And they can put two, four, six, however many they want."

Sustane president Peter Vinall says the company uses eco-friendly technology to break down and then sort household garbage into fibre sized pieces.

"We shred it up, [...] and then we cook it," Vinall said. "We cook it in enclosed vessels. There's no combustion, we're not burning anything, we're just using steam, like a pressure cooker at home. And that causes the fibres in your papers and cardboards and diapers and food to basically go back to fibres."

At the end of the process, the garbage is then turned into biodiesel which helps power the plant and can be sold for use, as well as pellets, similar to wood pellets, which can be used as fertilizer.

The plant is intended to be built on the site of the current landfill on Calabogie Road at an estimated cost of $30-million and would employ 25 people. Peckett is hopeful the recycling plant could be up and running by the end of 2023 or start of 2024.

"We build it, we operate it," says Vinall. "We need a stream of garbage. Our target is 70,000 tons a year and a tipping fee that would be competitive with the landfill today."

The last point before a contract can be signed for Sustane is a commitment to supplying the quota of garbage needed to effectively run the plant. Sustane requires a minimum of 200 tons of garbage per day.

Peckett says between the township, the rest of Renfrew County, Lanark County, and additional industrial and commercial waste, they can meet that mark.

But after many meeting with the City of Ottawa, who just this week put a call out for feedback on a new solid waste master plan, no agreement could be reached.

"The minimum plant is 200 tons a day, and it can be altered to 400 tons or even 600 tons a day," says Peckett. "We did talk with the City of Ottawa but they explained that they were going in a totally different direction and that was that."

Amid overflowing landfills across the province, Vinall says local residents can be reassured that their community would not become a dumping ground.

"We have practically no smell or emissions from our plant," says Sustane's president. "It's very low impact technology compared to incineration or other methods of disposing of waste."

Vinall also made a point to recognize Peckett as a leader in solving the waste disposal problem.

"Our commitment is strong. We think it's the right place for us. Ontario needs a solution and we'd like to build a showcase in your backyard there."