2. Procurement
Status of the Source Separated Organics (SSO) Program État d’exÉcution de l’approvisionnement conÇernant le programme |
Committee recommendationS AS
AMENDED
That Council
approve:
1. The completion of the
current Source Separated Organics (SSO) Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and
direct staff to bring forward all-in program delivery costs for Council’s
consideration.
2. The establishment of a Source
Separated Organics program to be in operation by the fall of 2008 within the
financial resources set aside for this purpose.
RecommandationS modifiÉes du Comité
Que le Conseil approuve :
1. L’achèvement du processus de demande de proposition
concernant les déchets organiques séparés à la source et d’enjoindre le
personnel de soumettre les coûts réels de la mise en œuvre du programme pour
examen par le Conseil.
2. L’établissement
d’un programme des déchets organiques séparés à la source et fasse en sorte que
ce programme soit mis en place d’ici à l’automne 2008 dans les limites des
ressources financières prévues à cette fin.
Documentation
1.
Deputy
City Manager's report Public
Works and Services
dated 15 March 2007 (ACS2007-PWS-UTL-0007).
2. Extract
of Draft Minutes, 27 March 2007.
Report
to / Rapport au:
Planning
and Environment Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et de
l'environnement
and Council / et au Conseil
Submitted
by/Soumis par:
R.G.
Hewitt, Deputy City Manager / Directeur municipal adjoint
SUBJECT: Procurement Status of the Source Separated Organics
(SSO) Program
OBJET: État d’exÉcution de
l’approvisionnement conÇernant le programme des déchets organiques sÈparÉs à la
source
That the Planning and Environment
Committee recommend that Council approve completion of the current
Source Separated Organics (SSO) Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and direct
staff to bring forward all-in program delivery costs for Council’s
consideration.
Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement recommande au Conseil
d’approuver l’achèvement du processus de demande de proposition concernant les
déchets organiques séparés à la source et d’enjoindre le personnel de soumettre
les coûts réels de la mise en œuvre du programme pour examen par le Conseil.
Ottawa residents generate almost 330,000 tonnes of residential waste per year. Over 35% of the residential waste stream is organic and compostable (leaf and yard waste, and kitchen waste.)
At present, most residential organic kitchen waste goes to landfill, with a small percentage processed through the City’s pilot Compost Plus+ project, or directed to individual compost piles.
The City’s 2002 Integrated Waste Management Master Plan
(IWMMP) recommends the adoption of residential waste diversion targets and
timelines, and introduction of a residential source separated organics program
to help achieve those targets. After
three years of successful implementation of the Compost Plus+ pilot, in
2005 Council directed staff to plan implementation of a citywide source
separated organics (SSO) program for rollout in 2008. Specifically, staff was directed to:
§ Draft the 2006 solid waste collection contracts to enable the separate collection of organics;
§ Apply to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Enabling Fund for grants and loans to support implementation;
§ Solicit interest from vendors of organics processing and marketing; and
§ Achieve 60% residential diversion from landfill by end of 2008 through the above and related promotional and educational measures.
Accordingly:
§ The new collections contract signed in 2006 provides for the separate collection of organics.
§ Successful application was made to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for funds to support SSO program implementation. FCM has approved a loan in the amount of $7.25M or up to 28.4% of eligible costs at 1.5% below Bank of Canada rate; and a grant in the amount of $1M or up to 3.9% of the eligible costs.
§ Capital reserves have been set aside for project implementation.i
§ Six (6) firms have been pre-qualified to provide composting services. A Request for Proposal was recently issued for a program to commence fall 2008, which includes options for P3 implementation.
Given the dynamic nature of the waste industry and the emergence of new technologies, the IWMMP recommends implementation of a suite of waste management approaches to ensure that the City is able to respond to growing demands and decreasing landfill capacity. By way of example, since completion of the IWMMP Phase II documents, two landfills in the City have requested expansion and the City has entered into a partnership with Plasco Energy Group for a gasification demonstration project.
In accordance with the IWMMP and Council direction, the City recently solicited Expressions of Interest for waste management technologies for the Residential and the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (IC&I) sectors, and completed the scoping phase of an “Industrial, Commercial & Institutional (IC&I) 3R Strategy” study. There has been an emergence of alternative solid waste management methods, including waste reduction, energy from waste and mixed waste processing technologies.
Consideration of alternative technologies, such as the Plasco energy from waste (EFW) demonstration facility, should be considered in the context of the overall waste management strategy for the City. It is on this basis that staff recommend we proceed with a full proposal for SSO processing and cost options for Council’s final decision in SSO implementation.
Council will be required to take several decisions concerning waste management over the coming year and it is important that cost information is available that allows for informed decision making. Staff recommend that the current RFP process be allowed to continue for the following reasons:
§ The City will forfeit $8.25M in a grant and loan from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) if it does not accept the funding and commit to citywide organics implementation by May 30, 2007, and expend the monies by December 31, 2008;
§ If competitive prices are obtained, it will be possible to implement the program and to approach the City’s target of 60% residential diversion by year-end 2008;
§ Priced proposals will provide a basis for comparison between SSO processing and other processing and disposal technologies currently under review;
§ Pursuit of an SSO program is in keeping with Provincial direction and industry best management practices, and the City’s IWMMP; and ii
§ Diverting organics from landfill will help to mitigate odour generation at local landfills while reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
Les résidents d’Ottawa produisent
près de 330 000 tonnes d’ordures ménagères par année. Plus de 35 % de
la masse d’ordures ménagères est de nature organique et compostable (feuilles
ainsi que résidus de jardinage et domestiques). À l’heure actuelle, la majorité
des résidus organiques domestiques sont destinés aux décharges, dont un petit
pourcentage est traité dans le cadre du projet pilote municipal Compost
Plus+ ou encore acheminé aux amas de compostage individuels.
Il est recommandé dans le Plan directeur de la gestion intégrée des
déchets (PDGID) 2002 de la Ville d’adopter des objectifs de réacheminement
des ordures ménagères et des calendriers connexes ainsi que d’introduire un
programme de séparation à la source des ordures ménagères organiques afin de
contribuer à l’atteinte de ces objectifs. Trois ans après la mise en œuvre
réussie du projet pilote Compost Plus+ en 2005, le Conseil a demandé au
personnel de planifier la mise en œuvre d’un programme de collecte de matières
organiques séparées à la source dans l’ensemble de la ville pour 2008.
Particulièrement, le personnel devait :
§
rédiger la version provisoire des contrats de
collecte des déchets solides pour 2006 afin de permettre la collecte sélective
des matières organiques;
§
présenter une demande de subvention et d’emprunt au
Fonds d’habilitation municipale vert de la Fédération canadienne des
municipalités (FCM);
§
solliciter l’intérêt de fournisseurs de services de
traitement des matières organiques et de commercialisation;
§
atteindre l’objectif de réacheminement de 60 %
des ordures ménagères hors des décharges d’ici la fin de 2008 grâce aux mesures
de promotion et de sensibilisation susmentionnées et connexes.
Par
conséquent :
§
Les
nouveaux contrats de collecte signés en 2006 rendent possible la collecte
sélective des matières organiques.
§
La FCM
a accueilli la demande de fonds pour la mise en œuvre du programme de collecte
de matières organiques séparées à la source. La FCM a approuvé un prêt d’un montant de 7,25 millions
de dollars, couvrant au plus 28,4 % des frais admissibles, dont le taux
est de 1,5 % inférieur au taux de la Banque du Canada; et une subvention de 1 million de dollars
qui couvre 3,9 % des frais admissibles.
§
Des
réserves pour immobilisations sont constituées pour la mise en œuvre du projet iii
§
Six
(6) entreprises ont été présélectionnées pour offrir les services de
compostage. Une demande de
propositions a récemment été diffusée pour un programme devant
commencer l’automne de 2008, qui
comprend des options pour la mise en œuvre de partenariats publics-privés (P3).
En raison de la nature dynamique
du secteur de gestion des déchets et de l’émergence de nouvelles technologies,
il est recommandé dans le PDGID de mettre en place une série de démarches de
gestion des déchets, de façon que la Ville puisse répondre à la demande
croissante et réduire la capacité des décharges. À titre d’exemple, depuis
l’achèvement des documents pour la phase II du PDGID, deux décharges sur
le territoire municipal ont demandé une expansion, et la Ville a engagé un
partenariat avec le Plasco Energy Group visant un projet de démonstration de
gazéification.
Conformément au PDGID et
à l’orientation du Conseil, la Ville a récemment demandé des déclarations
d’intérêt relatives aux technologies de gestion des déchets pour les secteurs
résidentiel, industriel, commercial et institutionnel et a terminé l’étape de
délimitation de l’étude de la « Stratégie des 3R concernant le secteur
industriel, commercial et institutionnel (ICI) ». On a constaté
l’émergence de méthodes de rechange pour la gestion des déchets solides, y
compris la réduction des déchets, l’énergie des déchets et les technologies
mixtes de traitement des déchets.
Nous devrions considérer
les technologies de rechange, telles que l’installation de démonstration de
l’énergie des déchets de Plasco, compte tenu de la stratégie générale en
matière de gestion des déchets de la Ville. C’est sur cette base que le
personnel a recommandé de procéder à une proposition intégrale relative aux
options de traitement du programme de collecte de matières organiques séparées
à la source et en matière de coûts qui seront soumises à la décision finale du
Conseil touchant la mise en œuvre du programme.
Le Conseil devra prendre
plusieurs décisions au sujet de la gestion des déchets cette année, et il
importe que l’information sur les coûts soit accessible de façon à permettre
une prise de décisions éclairées. Le personnel a recommandé de poursuivre
l’actuel processus de demande de propositions pour les raisons suivantes :
§
la
Ville devra renoncer à la subvention et au prêt de 8,25 millions de
dollars de la FCM si elle n’accepte pas le financement, ne prend pas
d’engagement à l’égard de la mise en œuvre du programme de collecte des
matières organiques dans l’ensemble de la ville d’ici le 30 mai 2007
et n’engage pas les sommes d’ici le 31 décembre 2008;
§
si la
Ville obtient des prix concurrentiels, il sera possible de mettre en œuvre le
programme et d’atteindre son objectif, soit le réacheminement de 60 % des
ordures ménagères d’ici la fin de 2008;
§
les
propositions chiffrées permettront de comparer les technologies de traitement
des matières organiques séparées à la source et d’autres technologies de
traitement et d’élimination actuellement à l’examen;
§
la
poursuite du programme de collecte de matières organiques séparées à la source
est conforme à l’orientation de la province et aux pratiques de gestion
exemplaires du secteur ainsi qu’au PDGID de la Ville,iv
§
le
réacheminement des matières organiques hors des décharges permettra de réduire
les odeurs dans les décharges locales ainsi que les émissions de gaz à effet de
serre (EGS).
Ottawa residents generate almost 330,000 tonnes of waste per year. Figure 1 illustrates the contents of the residential waste stream.
Source: SWS, 2004 residential waste audit
Provincial regulationv and best practices dictate that municipalities remove recyclables from the residential waste stream in an effort to divert waste from landfill. At present, Ottawa is obligated by regulation to remove the following products from residential waste prior to disposal:
§ aluminum food and beverage cans; § glass bottles and jars for food and beverages; § steel food and beverage cans; |
§ newsprint; § polyethylene terephthalate bottles for food and beverages; § leaf and yard organics; |
§ 2 more items from a list of 12 items, of which Ottawa picks-up boxboard, cardboard, magazines, and telephone directories. |
In June 2004, the Province issued Ontario’s 60% Waste Diversion Goal: A Discussion Paper, which sets out several approaches the Province is contemplating for the regulation of Ontario wastes. Key matters of note in the Discussion Paper are the following:
§ “Diversion of organics through composting must be enhanced” to reach 60% diversion; and, “in the residential sector, the largest gains are likely to come from increased diversion of organics, both food and yard waste.”
§ The Province indicates that it may phase in a waste diversion target of 60% by 2008 for municipalities with greater than 250,000 people: “These municipalities already have limited centralized composting infrastructure in place or have plans to develop centralized composting in the near future.”vi
§ Recently, energy from waste (EFW) has attracted significant interest as a way to address the shortage of landfill capacity in the Province. However, the Provincial Discussion Paper states that energy from waste is a means of “disposal”, not a means of waste “diversion”.vii
In 2001, Council approved implementation of a pilot source separated organics (SSO) program: Compost Plus+. Since then, the City has offered collection of household organics to nine (9) communities comprising 5,300 households on a voluntary basis. The program has successfully captured and diverted approximately 2,000 tonnes annually of residential organics.viii Diversion rates in participating communities averaged 49%, which is 15% greater than the City’s average diversion rate.
In 2005, Council directed that
staff undertake steps to enable citywide implementation of a household kitchen
organics collection program in keeping with the 60% diversion target. Specifically, staff was directed to:
§ Draft the 2006 solid waste collection contracts to enable the separate collection of organics;
§ Make application to the FCMs’ Green Municipal Enabling Fund to support implementation;
§ Solicit interest from vendors of organics processing and marketing; and
§ Achieve 60% residential diversion from landfill by end of 2008 through the above measures.
While working to enable implementation of the SSO initiative, several other solid waste projects have been initiated by the City or others, specifically:
§ Plasco Energy Group Inc. entered into a partnership with the City to construct a demonstration gasification plant that will process approximately 75 tonnes/day of residual municipal solid waste for two years;
§ The City issued a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) for Waste Management Technologies to verify the scope of technologies currently available in the market place—an important step in developing a Residual Waste Management Plan;
§ The City commenced a study that will lead to the development of a 3R Strategy for the Industrial, Commercial & Institutional (IC&I) waste sector in Ottawa; and
§ Owners of the Carp and Navan landfills submitted applications to the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) to obtain Environmental Assessment Act approval to allow for landfill expansions and/or increased waste disposal capacity.
All of these initiatives are important to the long term sustainable management of solid waste in Ottawa, but do not necessarily displace the need for a source separated organics program—a proven and widely practiced approach to waste management. The following section discusses the reasons why it is prudent to allow the current procurement process to continue, and to obtain competitive prices for potential implementation in 2008.
DISCUSSION
Comparing the
SSO Option to other Waste Technologies
Ottawa residents and businesses
generate approximately 1 million tonnes of solid waste annually. What is not recycled or otherwise diverted
is called “residual” waste, and is primarily landfilled locally. As the IWMMP points out, Ottawa will face a
shortage of disposal capacity in the near future if the source separated
organics program is not implemented, proposed landfill expansions do not occur,
and other disposal methods are not pursued.
The City seeks to address this
matter through several studies, each of which contributes to answering the
following questions:
§
How
much waste can reasonably be diverted and what are the best means to divert
waste? § How much residual waste will
remain post-diversion? § How much disposal capacity is
required over the long-term? |
§
IWMMPPhase1
and 2 reports
(completed) §
Waste
audits (undertaken regularly) §
Rethink
Garbage Campaign §
SSO
Program Implementation §
IC&I
3R Study and adoption of IC&I Waste 3R Strategy. |
§
What
are the best means of disposing residual wastes? |
§
Phase
2 IWMMP report
(completed) §
Plasco
gasification demonstration project. §
REOI
from technology vendors (completed) §
Review
of Waste Disposal Technologies §
Carp
& Navan EAs |
§
How
and where should we secure long-term disposal capacity? |
§
Develop
Residual Waste Management Plan §
Undertake
EA for one or more new waste disposal facilit(ies) as identified in the Residual
Waste Management Plan. |
By the end of this year, the City should be in a better position to answer which technologies and management tools are most suitable for managing Ottawa’s waste. Though other municipalities in the Province have implemented SSO programs, they are largely concentrated in south western Ontario where market conditions are different, and administer programs that would allow for higher degrees of contamination in the organics waste stream.ix Since this will likely mean better prices for Ottawa, it is important that the City have accurate prices by the fall for the SSO program, to provide Council with the information for it’s decision making process.
FCM Grant &
Loan
Capital costs to implement the SSO program are estimated at between $15 million and 25 million to be incurred in 2008. Capital reserves in the Solid Waste Compensation Reserve Fund in the amount of $27.3 Million as of December 31, 2006 have been set aside for this purpose.
In addition, staff made application to the FCM for 2006 funding to help implement the SSO program per Council’s direction in 2005. A detailed proposal was submitted on 26 June, 2006, and the City was notified that the application was approved on December 18, 2006. Specifically, FCM has approved a loan in the amount of $7.25M or up to 28.4% of eligible costs at 1.5% below Bank of Canada rate; and a grant in the amount of $1M or up to 3.9% of the eligible costs. This represents approximately 33 % of the capital value of the SSO program. The fact that the City secured over 70% of the FCM’s total available budget for loans and 40% of its total grant budget speaks to the high environmental, social, and economic benefits of the project.x
On February 7, 2007, the City was notified that it has until May 30, 2007 to accept the terms of the loan and grant and approve the project. One of the terms of the agreement is that the monies be expended by December 31, 2008. Ottawa may risk losing these funds if Council does not allow the current RFP process to continue. The RFP is scheduled to close June 14, 2007. Staff will be in a position to report on the proponents(s) representing the best overall value to the City in September. Signing of the FCM agreement will not affect Council’s ability to halt project implementation if cost competitive prices are not obtained through the RFP process.
Achieving the
60% Diversion Target by 2008
The City’s Compost Plus+ pilot project, which is in its sixth year of operation, offers collection of household organics to nine (9) communities comprising 5,300 households. The program has successfully captured and diverted approximately 2,000 tonnes annually of residential organics. Experience gained with this pilot has been used to design a citywide program.
Given the success of the voluntary program in achieving almost 50% diversion over the past five years, staff is confident that achievement of the 60% diversion rate target is realistic, and that the City could meet this target with an SSO program implementation. This is supported by survey work undertaken by Decima Research Inc. that found a broad base of support for implementation of a residential source separated organics program, refer to Figure 2.
It is anticipated that one or more facilities could be operational by fall 2008, based upon other SSO deployed facilities that have been designed and built within a one-year timeframe. The MOE is familiar with the technologies of the short listed proponents.
Consistent with
Industry Trends & Best Practices
The City’s Integrated Waste
Management Master Plan, the Province’s Discussion Paper, and solid
waste industry best practices are rooted in the theory of the hierarchy of
waste and waste management.
The premise of the model is that wastes with residual value as containers (e.g. bottles), manufacturing inputs (e.g. aluminum and fiber), or as an organic fertilizer (e.g. food waste), should be removed from the waste stream and processed for use, thereby displacing the need to extract equivalent natural resources from the environment and lessening environmental impacts of human consumption and waste.
Solid Waste Services (SWS) has been implementing this model on an incremental basis since the 1986 when the blue box program, then leaf and yard waste composting program, and finally the addition of the black box to the split stream recycling program were implemented. In October 2001, Council approved a pilot for the collection and processing of household organics: Compost Plus+. The next step in this progression would be to implement a citywide SSO program.
Over 3.5 million people in thirteen Ontario cities participate in source separated organics programs. The Province has stated its intention to mandate 60% residential waste diversion rates, with mandatory diversion of organics as the intended means to achieving that target. Landfilling organic wastes has been banned in several European countries for over a decade, with Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia recently following suit.
Organics are the primary source of odours at landfills and their removal helps to mitigate odour issues at local landfills. A citywide source separation program would remove approximately 100,000 tonnes of organics going to landfill. Local development of this technology could facilitate diversion of IC&I food wastes originating from restaurants, grocers, hotels etc.—potentially diverting another 70,000 t/y from landfill.
Composting organics also allows for completion of the carbon cycle by sequestering carbon in the soil, allowing for carbon uptake by plants, and limiting its release to atmosphere, refer to Figure 3.xi
Source: ICF
Consulting, Environment Canada report: Determination of the Impact of
Waste Management Activities on
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2005 Update.
*Includes open windrow and in-vessel composting
processes.
**Includes incineration and gasification processes.
The graph presents Net eCO2 (or equivalent CO2) based upon the processing of food scraps by the four alternative processing technologies. The study considered full life-cycle of the material and determined whether the process releases more or less carbon to atmosphere than it sequestered in plants or soils. Composting sequesters more carbon than it releases and, therefore, shows a negative value.
Staffs are currently exploring ways to evaluate the relative environmental impacts of major waste processing and disposal management practices on a system wide basis (for example including environmental costs of running source separated programs). This will provide Council with a fuller picture of the potential costs and environmental impacts of pursuing any one or combination of waste management options.
As currently conceived, the SSO program would only be made available in rural villages, not the general rural non-village areas.
CONSULTATION / PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
Extensive public consultation was done from 1996 through to 2005 on Organics implementation including open houses, a public liaison committee, phone and paper survey feedback, and pilot monitoring and feedback. This feedback has been presented in a number of reports to council, including the most comprehensive report which was presented in 2003 as ACS2003-TUP-UTL-0001. This matter was brought before the Environmental Advisory Committee in July 2005 and again in December 2006, at which times EAC endorsed implementation of a SSO program.
This report has no implications to the 2007 Operating or Capital Budgets. All costs associated with implementation and delivery of a source separated organics program will be brought forward for Council consideration. However, if the current RFP process is cancelled, the City will forfeit a low interest loan and grant valued at $8.25 million from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
DISPOSITION
The Utility Services Branch, with the support of Supply Management Division, will obtain priced proposals for implementation of a Source Separated Organics program, and present the results with recommendations to Council.
i
Approximately $25 M is identified within capital reserves for program
implementation.
ii Ontario’s
60% Waste Diversion Goal – A Discussion Paper. June, 2004, which identifies the potential phasing-in of a ban on
disposing organics and recyclables, where “disposing” includes both landfilling
and energy from waste technologies.
iii Environ 25 millions de
dollars sont mis de côté dans les réserves pour immobilisations pour la mise en
œuvre du programme.
iv Réacheminer 60 p. 100 des déchets en Ontario : Document
de consultation, juin 2004, où il est question de la mise en place
progressive possible d’une interdiction visant l’élimination des matières
organiques et recyclables, lorsque l’élimination comprend à la fois les
technologies d’enfouissement et d’ énergie
des déchets.
v Environmental Protection
Act, Ontario Regulation 101/94:
Recycling and Composting of Municipal Waste.
vi SSO programs have been implemented by
thirteen municipalities[1] in Ontario, and
serve over 3.5 million people.
vii The City will need to address this matter
with the Province if Council decides to implement EFW in lieu of accepted
diversion programs such as the SSO program.
viii The City pays $30/tonne for composting of
these organics.
ix “Contamination” in an organics waste stream
consists of non-organic materials such as plastic, glass and metals. Ottawa’s Compost Plus+ program
prohibits use of plastic bags. Such
bags are permitted by cities such as Toronto, which poses handling and
processing problems and therefore can drive up program costs.
x FCM had approximately $10M in loan financing
and $2.5M in grant financing available for projects with the potential to
significantly improve waste diversion.
xi Saft, R.J. and W. Elsinga. Source Separation, Composting A Win for
Greenhouse Gas Reduction., Biocycle August 2006. Note, GHG emissions from Trail Waste
Facility are not representative of what is shown in this figure. The figure is based upon the national
average of landfills described as follows: 63% of landfilled waste goes to
landfills with no gas collection; 15% goes to landfills with gas collection and
flaring; and 23% goes to landfills with gas collection and energy
production. TWF has a landfill gas collection system, flare, and landfill
gas to energy power generation station.
PROCUREMENT STATUS OF THE SOURCE SEPARATED
ORGANICS (SSO) PROGRAM
ÉTAT D’EXÉCUTION DE L’APPROVISIONNEMENT CONÇERNANT
LE PROGRAMME DES DECHETS ORGANIQUES SÉPARÉS A LA SOURCE
ACS2007-PWS-UTL-0007 CITY-WIDE
Mr. Ken Brothers, Director, Utility Services, accompanied by Messrs Felice Petti, Manager, Environmental Programs and Technical Support gave a presentation outlining the timelines associated with the Source Separated Organics Program (SSO). The PowerPoint presentation is on file with the City Clerk.
Responding to questions from Councillor Diane Holmes, staff clarified that the original timeline envisioned for this initiative to commence had been 1998. It was further stated that the Request for Qualifiers (RFQ) was released in 2006 and the Request for Proposals (RFP) on March 9, 2007. The deadline for accessing the loan and grant approved by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is May 30, 2007. Ms. Jackson indicated that she would ascertain what the FCM needed to hold onto the funds until the City has all the information required. Mr. Brothers added that the earliest staff could get this done was by the fall of 2008. Councillor Holmes signified her intent to put forward a Motion, calling for a decision to be made at this time.
Councillor Gord Hunter pointed out that there were good reasons why this project was rejected ten years ago. He opined that going ahead now was not the responsible thing to do, and that further studies were required.
Councillor Jan Harder pointed out that studied had already been undertaken and that the public was ahead of the politicians in this respect. Councillor Clive Doucet said that 11% of waste coming out of restaurants was organic and he expressed the view that SSO would help the City achieve the 60% reduction target.
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson called landfills "time bombs". She agreed that now was the time to act while funding assistance is available and public support is high.
The Deputy City Manager, Public Works and Services, Richard Hewitt, pointed out that the plan staff is currently pursuing would not change the implementation date. The report is being prepared so that Committee and Council are comfortable with its recommendations. Mr. Hewitt conceded that the issue of the FCM funding was not insignificant, with $8.25 million in loans and grants being at risk.
Councillor Shad Qadri said SSO was a major component of abandoning landfill, and he averred that the time has come to implement this measure.
Councillor Alex Cullen called the SSO program an important City initiative, and he posited that any other technology would be more costly. He added that Council needs to know what the program delivery costs will be, however finding a new site, and building a new landfill would cost one hundred million dollars.
Both Vice-Chair Peggy Feltmate and Councillor Holmes said they were skeptical about the full-time operation of the Plasma Gasification Plant. Councillor Holmes said she was not prepared to wait for this. Councillor Feltmate pointed out that food wastes provide a low heat return and the nutrients should be re-used. She called for Council to get on with the SSO project.
Councillor Michel Bellemare pointed out that, other than a statement of support in principle, calling for the project to start in the fall of 2008 did not bind Council in any way. Mr. Hewitt reiterated that the funding approved by the FCM is the issue. He said he believed a Motion would give the FCM what it is looking for, and signal the private sector that Council supports this program. Mr. Hewitt agreed with Councillor Bellemare that there would be no other significant change to the process currently underway.
The Committee then considered the following Motion:
Moved by D. Holmes
That the City approve the establishment of a
Source Separated Organics Program to be in operation by the fall of 2008 within
the financial resources set aside for this purpose.
CARRIED
(G.
Hunter dissented)
Moved by S. Qadri
That the Planning and Environment Committee
recommend that Council approve completion
of the current Source Separated Organics (SSO) Request for Proposal (RFP)
process, and direct staff to bring forward all-in program delivery costs for
Council’s consideration.
CARRIED