Prince George is being considered as a location for two waste diversion projects, a report to City Council says.
Representatives from Sustane Technologies and Canfor made a presentation on a pair of proposed biomass/biofuel projects.
The first project, from Sustane, would see waste diverted from the landfill to a small plant in the city.
“At the heart of our presentation is a collaboration to move the needle when it comes to the environment, waste management in particular,” said Sustane co-founder Peter Vinall.
“We have a potential this year to shift this region to be a waste division leader in British Columbia and maybe the world.”
Vinall says they have developed a plan that would recycle municipal solid waste as opposed to burning or burying it.
The process is expected to deliver a diversion rate of around 90 percent — meaning the majority of things that go in your landfill can be repurposed.
“We would be able to take organic material as well, instead of just garbage. Or even avoiding having to set up a separation program for that.”
Sustane would build and operate the plant, which would employ roughly 25 workers.
“We’ll do it at a lower cost than landfilling, in exchange we’ll need a tipping fee for a reasonable amount of time,” he said.
Overall greenhouse gas emissions in Prince George would drop ten percent as a result of the project — but it’s not a done deal yet.
Meanwhile, a second project, proposed by Canfor and Arbios, would use recovered wood to make biofuel.
In their report to Council, Canfor says they believe this project will likely be given the go-ahead later this summer or fall — with the hope it will be running by the end of next year.
The proposal says the Arbios project would be located at the Intercon facility, creating 150 direct jobs and an additional 600 indirect.
Consultation with local Indigenous nations is underway, and further community engagement is planned for the coming months.
An environmental review is also currently in progress.
If approved, this would be the first project of its kind in Canada.