Keeping biodegradables out of city landfills

As cities consider their own programs, GFL touts benefits of wet-waste recycling

An Alberta-based environmental company would like to see Saskatchewan’s two major cities accelerate wet waste disposal programs.

Don Francis, the director of organic solutions at Green For Life Environmental (GFL), points to Calgary and a number of Alberta municipalities that have made it illegal to throw away wet waste (food scraps), in the garbage. Diverting wet waste from the landfill helps cities reduce costs, while reducing carbon emissions and recycling nutrients.

Francis said it often takes a policy change to convince people to adopt new habits.

“Nutrients are a valuable resource that should not be wasted,” he said. “(Banning organics) from the landfill helps change behaviour.”

Worldwide, one-third of food (or about 1.3 billion tonnes), produced for human consumption is wasted. In North America, more than 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables not attractive enough for consumers are rejected by supermarkets.

In Regina, GFL purchased Best Land Farms and took over that company ’s subscription wet waste collection program from residences and businesses.

“We don’t make any money off it; we just do it because we’re trying to drive that awareness,” said Francis. “In Regina, we’re ahead of the curve in terms of capturing the early adopters.”

GFL takes the wet waste to its site, located north of the Global Transportation hub, and uses the recovered nutrients to make compost. Any packaging is sent to local recycling centres.

The compost is then blended with elemental sulphur, which is an oil and gas industry by-product, to make fertilizer called Bio-Sul Premium Plus. Bio- Sul is then sold to farmers through a distribution network.

Francis said the next step is having more commercial food businesses come on board to help divert food waste.

“We’re going to go after the hotels and restaurants, but what would be great is if the city supported it.”

Janet Aird, the manager of waste diversion services, said the City of Regina’s administration has been researching residential wet waste collection and processing options. They plan on taking a recommendation to city council this summer.

If council decides to provide a curbside service, it would then go through a request for proposal process, whereby private companies could bid on the contract.

That process would last about a year.

Aird said it’s too early to say if a ban on throwing away organics would be implemented in Regina. The city’s curbside waste studies have found that a significant portion of waste is organic material. She said an organics collection program would help extend the life of the landfill.

“It helps us not have to make an investment in a new landfill. That investment can be costly.”

GFL has bought land near Saskatoon to construct a composting facility. Francis said they’d also be open to buying one of the city’s composting sites.

The City of Saskatoon is also researching organics collection and processing opportunities for residents. City administration will report to council in June with a recommended curbside program and timeline.

Amber Weckworth, manager of education and environmental performance, said the environmental and economic advantages of an organics collection program is “extremely important” to the City of Saskatoon.

Organics represent 32 per cent of the overall garbage going to landfill.

“In addition, organic material contributes to climate change by releasing methane when buried in a landfill and the leachate produced must be managed carefully to ensure it isn’t released into the environment.”

She said a ban on throwing away organics is not easy to execute.

“In Saskatoon, there are additional challenges because of the two private landfills, so bans are challenging unless implemented at a regional or provincial level.”

Francis estimates GFL will capture 500,000 tonnes of organic waste that would have gone to the landfill this year.

“Saskatchewan will be like Alberta — the two major cities (will be) recycling all their wet waste and hopefully, we’re involved enough that the majority of it will be turned into our product and can be reapplied (to the soil).”

We don’t make any money off it; we just do it because we’re trying to drive that awareness. In Regina, we’re …capturing the early adopters.