Nova Scotia-based Sustane Technologies is being considered as the waste management solution provider for The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) in British Columbia.
As reported in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, The CVRD has decided to participate in an initiative to monitor and study how the new and innovative Sustane Technologies Waste Management facility, located in Chester, Nova Scotia, deals with its waste.
The CVRD has a population of 83,739 residents that reside in four unique municipalities It covers a land area of 3,473.12 km2 on the east coast of Vancouver Island and includes several Gulf Islands, including Thetis, Kuper, and Valdes.
The CVRD is governed by a 15 member board comprised of appointed directors from four municipalities, the Town of Lake Cowichan, the Town of Ladysmith, the City of Duncan and the Municipality of North Cowichan (North Cowichan has three appointees based upon population) and an elected director from each of the nine electoral areas.
Sustane Technologies claims to have developed a set of disruptive separation technologies to transform municipal solid wastes (MSW) to high value fuels and recyclable materials at lower cost than landfilling.
Sustane’s first-ever North American facility in Nova Scotia, which has a capacity of 70,000 tonnes per year of solid waste, is undergoing its final tests and operations are anticipated to begin this year.
The CVRD will join the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Comox Valley Regional District in the performance monitoring program at the facility, at a cost to the district of $4,100.
“Like the CVRD, other regional districts on the island are interested in viable technologies to transform residual waste to marketable reusable products,” said Tauseef Waraich, the CVRD’s manager of recycling and waste management, in a report to the board.
“Since this is the first ever facility of its kind in North America, it is important to monitor the performance to determine its viability for local regional districts on the island.”
Since the closure in the late 1990s of the three incinerators and the regional landfill in the CVRD, the district has been in search of viable disposal solutions for its solid waste.
Waraich said the three incinerators were considered state-of-the-art facilities when they were constructed, but by the late 1990s, studies indicated they were adversely impacting the local air quality and their licences to operate were pulled by the province.
As for the landfill, Waraich said the old one was filled to capacity and no location within the CVRD could be identified for a new one.
Currently, the region does not have a disposal option for its solid waste other than export it to the Rabanco Landfill in Roosevelt, U.S. The CVRD relies on a central waste transfer station at Bings Creek as well as two satellite facilities at Peerless Road and Meade Creek for regional waste collection and transfer to the Rabanco Landfill.
The CVRD currently produces approximately 94,000 tonnes of waste per year, with about 64 per cent recycled or composted.
The district’s solid waste, with approximately 20,000 tonnes originating from CVRD-owned facilities and about 14,000 tonnes from other sources, is sent to landfills for disposal.
CVRD’s solid waste management plan, which was updated in 2018, has the following guiding principles:
Promote zero waste approaches and support a circular economy.
Promote the first 3Rs.
Maximize the beneficial use of waste materials and manage residuals appropriately.
Support polluter and user-pay approaches and manage incentives to maximize behaviour outcomes.
Prevent organics and recyclables from going to the garbage whenever practical.
Collaborate with other regional districts wherever possible.
