A regional organics facility is being considered in Rocky View County.
Rocky View County council directed staff to submit an application to the Rural Alberta Development Fund (RADF) in hopes of gaining grant money to help build an organic processing facility and education centre within its borders.
Although the details haven’t been ironed out, council is hopeful about the feasibility of a facility.
“Of course I’ll support this application,” said Reeve Rolly Ashdown. “I think it’s fantastic and I wish it every future success. Anytime you can take garbage and turn it into something useful and give us a smaller environmental footprint, I am in favour of it.”
If constructed, the facility, which will be one of the first of its kind in Canada, will process about 50,000 tonnes per year of residential and commercial organic waste and create approximately 22,000 tonnes of compost and 2,500 tonnes of soil amendment product.
The facility will also produce biogas, composed mainly of methane, which will be used to power and heat the facility’s buildings.
Products will be sold to farmers, municipalities, landscapers and through retail channels, in hopes of making the facility financially independent.
Last fall, the County’s solid waste and recycling department tasked consulting company, Iris Environmental Systems Inc., with providing a business plan and feasibility study for an organics facility.
The consultants recently discovered the opportunity to obtain a one-time grant of $3.1 million from the RADF. The late-January deadline forced them to present their case to council without a completed feasibility study or business plan.
If awarded, the grant will cover the cost of a proposed learning centre, which will provide educational opportunities to other jurisdictions, schools and experts. It will also provide $1.4 million towards construction of the facility.
“Nothing is firm,” said Joanne Walroth, Rocky View’s solid waste and recycling manager.
“(Council) just wanted to see the plan. They are very interested in it, because there is not a facility like this in the region.”
“The plan is, there will be no overall costs to the tax payers in Rocky View,” said Walroth. “There is a big demand for this type of program in the southern region of Alberta. As a region, we have been working towards a solution for years.”
The County has received letters of support from several surrounding jurisdictions, including the Calgary, Airdrie, Irricana, Cochrane, Chestermere and Beiseker.
Walroth said plans are preliminary and, even if the grant is approved, the County is not obligated to construct the facility, which will use both composting and anaerobic digestion, a relatively uncommon processing method, to break down the waste.
The County has not determined the cost or the site of the facility, although consultants anticipate it will be on the east side of the county.
According to Division 1 Councillor Rick Butler, who is the former manager of the Calgary Regional Partnership, the organization hoped to build several composting facilities in the area to remove the organic waste, which composes about 50 per cent of material, from landfills.
He added he is optimistic about the feasibility of a facility, but says he wants to see a thorough business plan before making any decisions.
“It sounds like it is a fit,” Butler said.
“I support the idea, but let’s look at the business case. If they want us to make a decision, I want to see a business plan.”
