City asked to speed up work toward garbage incinerator

UPDATE | City councillors carried the committe recommendations at their meeting on Dec. 6, 2023. 

Coun. David Brown is in a rush to learn whether Ottawa should opt for an incinerator instead of another landfill as garbage piles up in his rural area.

Brown's Rideau-Jock ward is the site of the Trail Waste Facility landfill, which staff estimate has little more than a decade of life before it fills up.

"I can assure you, my ward doesn't want the next one," said Brown.

City staff were already planning to study waste-to-energy incineration as part of their solid waste master plan, as well as a mechanical sorting system that would remove organics from garbage before it gets dumped in the landfill.

But those studies weren't expected to start until next year. Brown made a motion to speed them up by about six months. He said he's not looking to cut corners, but push staff to "move through the paperwork faster" to see what the options are.

"Six months might just be that tipping point," Brown said. "Council has been talking about this for so long, and I want to make sure that this council is in a position to make a decision long-term."

Council's environment and climate change committee passed his motion unanimously on Tuesday, sending it to a full meeting of council for final approval.

Nichole Hoover-Bienasz, program manager of long-term planning in solid waste services, said staff can have the studies done by mid-2025. In her view, time is pressing.

"It is quite urgent," she said. "Decisions need to be made by this term of council. Status quo, if nothing is done, the landfill will be full between 2034 and 2035."

She said it will take about 10 years to design, approve and construct an incinerator, which means the city would run right into the deadline if it doesn't do more to divert garbage.

But it is planning to do more. Hoover-Bienasz presented a solid waste master plan that, even without advanced sorting or incineration, is expected to divert or reduce enough garbage to buy the city another 14 years of landfill life. 

That includes a food-waste reduction strategy, efforts to step up recycling in city facilities and anaerobic digestion that uses bacteria to break down organics, producing valuable natural gas.

Still, environmental groups showed up at committee and urged the city to devote more attention to reduction efforts — instead of banking on incineration that could cost $450 million or more.

Kate Reekie of Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES) said incineration will still require a landfill to dispose of "toxic ash" left over once garbage is burned. She said it would create perverse incentives for the city's waste system.

"This is fundamentally at odds with the plan's vision of a zero-waste Ottawa," she said. "With an incinerator, there is every incentive for residents to continue wasteful consumption patterns, given that there is a built-in need to keep feeding the incinerator."

Hoover-Bienasz said there would still be a strong motivation to reduce organic material, since it doesn't burn well enough to create heat for the incinerator.

Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard also asked whether the city is considering sending garbage to an incinerator already planned for Pontiac, Que.

Hoover-Bienasz said staff have discussed that possibility, but she pointed to potential roadblocks, given that current Quebec regulations don't allow garbage to cross the inter-provincial border. And that isn't the only problem.

"It is trucking that waste, the cost of transferring that waste as well, the emissions associated with that, versus a more localized solution in the City of Ottawa," she said.