State of Waste in Ontario: Organics Report. Second Annual Report

Transcription

1 State of Waste in Ontario: Organics Report Second Annual Report July 26, 2017

2 Table of Contents About the Ontario Waste Management Association... 2 Introduction... 3 Methodology... 3 Organic Processing Facilities in Ontario... 4 Approved Processing Capacity... 6 Waste Processed... 8 APPENDIX... 11

3 About the Ontario Waste Management Association The Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) is the largest waste/resource management trade association in Canada, representing about 250 members within Ontario s private and public sectors. OWMA members manage 85% of Ontario s waste and have diverse interests and capital investments in areas, such as waste and recycling collection, material recycling and resource recovery, organics processing and composting, hazardous waste recycling and safe disposal, and landfills and transfer stations. They are at the core of the green economy. Over the last decade, the association has been a leader on the discussion around the future of waste management in Ontario, and has released a number of reports and policy papers on this topic: First Annual State of Waste in Ontario: Organics Report First Annual State of Waste in Ontario: Landfill Report ReThink Organic Waste: A Circular Strategy for Organics ReThink Waste 2015: Evolution Towards a Circular Economy OWMA Disposal Levies: ReThink Policy Paper Series OWMA Extended Producer Responsibility: ReThink Policy Paper Series OWMA Disposal Bans: ReThink Policy Paper Series ReThink Waste: A Blue Print for Harnessing the Economic Benefits of Resource Management in Ontario OWMA Guiding Principles: Integrated Solid Waste Resource Recovery & Utilization All of these materials can be found on the OWMA s website: The OWMA has also supported the following leading edge research and projects: GHD, Cap-and-Trade Research for Ontario's Waste Management Sector, Torrie Smith Associates, Kelleher Environment & Sonnevera, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Ontario Waste Management Industry White Paper, Canadian Standards Association, Guideline for Accountable Management of End-of-Life Materials, Conference Board of Canada, Opportunities for Ontario s Waste: Economic Impacts of Waste Diversion in North America, cg, Ontario Organic Waste Management Strategy, CD Howe, The Eco-Fee Imbroglio: Lessons from Ontario s Troubled Experiment in Charging for Waste Management, 2010.

4 Introduction Last year, the OWMA released the first State of Waste in Ontario report on organics processing. This is part of a major data collection and analysis initiative by the sector to better understand data related to waste management in the province. This is an annual publication, which will be expanded and refined based on the needs of the sector. This year s report is especially significant because the government s Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario identifies organic waste as a key focus and includes a commitment to develop an action plan to reduce the volume of food and organic waste going to landfill. The information in our report will help support future policy decisions for the waste management sector; enable those in the industry to make better business decisions; and provide more detailed information to inform and educate the broader public. Before more complicated analysis can be done, it is important to continue to refine and build on our existing database. While the database is more comprehensive and accurate than anything currently in place, several improvements can and still will be made to enhance this important source of information. Methodology Data provided by the waste management sector was used to create individual accounts for all identified compost and anaerobic digestion facilities in the province. It should also be noted that the current data set does not yet include organics wastes processed at rendering facilities or managed as animal feed. In future surveys, the OWMA will look at ways to encourage participation in these areas. Participants provided data voluntarily through Re-TRAC Connect, an online data platform used by governments and private organizations across North America. A copy of the full organics survey and definitions used are included in the Appendix. Participation was high for OWMA owned organic processing facilities surveyed and minimal issues with the survey design were identified. 1 Currently, the OWMA does not represent many on-farm anaerobic digestion facilities. Participation in this area was low and as a result the dataset is fairly limited. For facilities where no information was inputted, the OWMA utilized publicly available and reliable data including Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs), reports to municipal councils, previous OWMA surveys, and Waste Diversion Ontario s datacall. The OWMA recognizes that the data may include some estimates by participants and that the use of both standard and waste-specific conversion factors (i.e. tonnes to cubic metres) may impact the accuracy of the data. 2 Efforts will be made over the next few years to improve the data, with the goal of establishing it as the most comprehensive and accurate source for waste management information in Ontario. 1

5 Organic Processing Facilities in Ontario In 2015, there were a total of 87 3 organics processing facilities in Ontario. While there were some changes in the number of facilities operating, the majority of the change from last year s report is due to a number of small municipal leaf and yard composting sites being identified. Based on the technology used to process organic wastes, these facilities can be broken down into four major categories, which are as follows: Compost Facilities are facilities where organic waste is converted to compost under aerobic conditions. Compost facilities can handle diverse organic feedstocks, ranging from leaf and yard waste and wood waste to biosolids, food waste, and digestate depending on the facility design and technology. A total of 52 composting facilities have been identified through ECAs, with good data available for both approved capacity and waste processed. 75% of these facilities are publicly owned, with the remaining 25% owned by private companies. These facilities can be further broken down by composting method: o o In-vessel: A method where the organic materials being processed are enclosed in some sort of vessel (e.g. metal tanks or concrete bunkers) and provided with supplemental aeration for the most active part of the composting process. In-vessel facilities can take a greater range of organic materials than windrow facilities due to odour concerns. In 2015, there were 11 4 facilities using this method of composting in Ontario, including 5 publicly owned and 6 privately owned sites. Windrow: A method whereby compost is produced by mixing organic wastes in long, relatively narrow rows (windrows) for the entire composting process. These facilities tend to be more limited in the materials they can process and are mainly used for leaf and yard waste and smaller amounts of source separated organics. In 2015, there were 41 5 windrow composting facilities in Ontario, the majority (83%) of which were publicly owned. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Facilities are facilities where organic waste is degraded and converted to digestate under anaerobic conditions, which generally produces a renewable energy that is used for electricity or fuel. The value of these outputs will hopefully be further outlined in future reports. As these facilities use in-vessel processing, they are particularly suited to handle food waste, which has high intrinsic energy values and significant odour challenges. Ontario had a total of 35 AD facilities in 2015, the majority (94%) of which are privately owned. These facilities can be further defined by location and their organic material feedstock: o On-farm: These facilities are located on a farm and process organic materials generated from farming operations 6 (e.g. manure, bedding, feed waste, runoff from 3

6 silos, etc.) are one of the primary feedstocks. Treatment of manure to reduce pathogens is also required at these facilities. They are regulated somewhat differently than other facilities as they have the ability to accept up to 50% of off-farm feedstock (see O. Reg. 267/03) without the need to seek an ECA. In 2015, there were 30 on-farm AD facilities in Ontario, all of which are privately owned. While information is available on approved capacity, there was missing data on the amount of waste received, and so this was not included in the database. o Off-farm: These facilities process organic materials that are primarily from nonfarming operation (e.g. source separated organics, grease trap residuals, leaf and yard waste, etc.). There were only 5 off-farm facilities operating in Private companies own 3 of these facilities, with the remaining 2 being publicly owned. Figure 1 presents a percentage breakdown of the types of organic processing facilities in Ontario in Figure 1 Organics Processing Facilities in Ontario by Type (2015) Figure 2 illustrates the breakdown of public- and privately-owned organics processing facilities in Ontario in 2014.

7 Figure 2 Organics Processing Facilities in Ontario by Ownership (2015) Approved Processing Capacity As more organic waste is collected in the province through diversion programs, pressure for growth in organics processing capacity will increase. Based on the data collected by the OWMA, Ontario had an approved processing capacity of 2.36 million tonnes in It is important to note, however, that there is a critical distinction between the approved processing capacity and how much organic waste can actually be processed at specific facilities. Not all facilities can accept every type of organic waste, and many operate with geographic restrictions and technical limitations. Additionally, approved processing capacity may not be reflective of what can be actually processed in a given year due to operational constraints, which include facility shutdowns for preventive maintenance or unplanned downtime. Also facilities may choose not to accept all the types of waste they are permitted to process under their ECA due to concerns around issues, such as odour. Figure 3 presents an overview of approved organics processing capacity in Ontario segregated by facility type.

8 Figure 3 - Approved Capacity (Tonnes) for Organics Processing Facilities in Ontario, by Facility Type (2015) Important to note these numbers are notional. 75% is likely closer to the actual capacity. As shown in the figure, over 40% of the province s approved capacity in 2015 was represented by invessel composting facilities. Anaerobic digesters, which represent newer infrastructure in the province, now account for just over 30% of the approved capacity with the majority from off-farm facilities. Figure 4 illustrates the breakdown between public and private sector owned organics processing capacity in Ontario in Based on the OWMA s database, the overall division is almost one-third public ownership and two-thirds private ownership.

9 Figure 4 Approved Capacity (Tonnes) at Organics Processing Facilities in Ontario by Ownership (2015) Waste Processed Having accurate data on the amount of waste received and processed at organics processing facilities across Ontario is important as it provides information on how much of the approved capacity is actually being used, and how much may be available to accommodate new and/or expanded organics programs. This is valuable information for policymakers charged with the responsibility for waste management planning and future organics diversion. In 2015, organic processing facilities in Ontario received approximately 1.48 million tonnes of organic waste. This includes various types of material such as source-separated garden and food waste, timber/wood waste, manure, animal litter and bedding, and certain industrial wastes (e.g. biosolids, grease trap, fish processing waste, paper pulp, etc.). This number does not include organic material processed at rendering facilities. It also excludes organic wastes that are fed directly to livestock. As a result, the amount of processed organic waste is higher. As shown in Figure 5, 68% of this waste was processed at compost facilities, with only 32% being processed at AD facilities. Figure 6 shows the majority of organic waste (68%) was processed at privately owned facilities.

10 Figure 5 - Waste Processed at Organics Facilities in Ontario, by Facility Type (2015) Figure 6 - Waste Processed at Organics Facilities in Ontario, by Ownership (2015)

11 When comparing the OWMA s data to the latest data on organics waste processed annually released by Statistics Canada, 7 there is a 22% discrepancy (see Figure 6). 8 This is a similar inconsistency to the one that was reported in last year s State of Waste in Ontario: Landfill Report. It is also similar to findings by the United States by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation, which found volumes for waste disposal and recycling to be much higher than previously reported by the U.S. EPA or other state authorities. This is likely due to the amount modeling and actual data reported in. Figure 6 - Comparison of OWMA (2015) and Statistics Canada (2014) Data on Organic Waste Processed in Ontario (Tonnes) 8

12 APPENDIX

13 Organics Processing Facilities Included in This Report: Ontario Inc 2. All Treat Farms Limited 3. Alliston Landfill Site (compost) 4. Astoria Organic Matters 5. Athlone Farms 6. Bayview Flowers Ltd. 7. Birchlawn Farms Ltd. 8. Blue Mountains (Town) 9. Bridge Street Landfill - Regional Municipality of Niagara 10. Caledon Sanitary Landfill - Regional Municipality of Peel 11. Cambridge Landfill 12. Carleton Corner Farms 13. CCS agrikomp 14. Centre for Agricultural Renewable Energy and Sustainability 15. Chatsworth/Georgian Bluffs 16. City of Barrie (Sandy Hollow) Compost Site 17. City of Brantford 18. City of Cornwall Landfill 19. City of Guelph (AIM) Box 20. Clearydale 21. Clovermead Farms Inc. 22. County of Simcoe Landfill # County of Simcoe Landfill 11, (Oro Site) 24. County of Simcoe Nottawasaga Landfill (Site 10) 25. De Bruin Farms Ltd. 26. Delft Blue Veal Inc. 27. Deloro - Timmins 28. Disco Road Biogas 29. Donnandale Farms Inc. 30. Eilers Farm Ltd. 31. ENS Poultry Inc. 32. Essex (Town) /Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority 33. Evergreen Recycling 34. FEPRO Farms 35. Ferme Geranik 36. Gardiner Farms Ltd. 37. Gord Watts Municipal Centre 38. Greenholm Farms 39. Gro-Bark Organics Inc. 40. Halton Regional Landfill - Milton 41. Hamilton (City) - Central Composting Facility 42. Hamilton (City) - Glanbrook Landfill Site 43. Harvest Power (London) 44. Jockvalley Farms 45. Kawartha Lakes (City) - Eldon Landfill Site 46. Kawartha Lakes (City) - Fenelon Landfill Site

14 47. Kawartha Lakes (City) - Somerville Landfill Site 48. Kirchmeier Farms 49. Koskamp Family Farms 50. Lafleche Environmental - Eastern Ontario Waste Handling Facility Inc. 51. Lambton Shores - Forest Compost Site 52. Laurentian Valley (Township) - Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre 53. Ledgecroft Farms 54. Lemieux Composting & Haul-away 55. Marl Creek Renewables 56. Maryland Farms Biogas Ltd. 57. Miller Paving Limited - Clarington Facility 58. Miller Waste Systems 59. Miller Waste Systems - Leaf Composting Site 60. Muskoka (District) - Gravenhurst Landfill Site 61. Muskoka (District) - Rosewarne Landfill Site 62. Muskoka (District) - Stisted Landfill Site 63. Niagara Regional Road 12 - Niagara Region 64. Norterra Organics (Scott Environmental Group) 65. Northumberland (County) - Brighton Landfill Site 66. Orgaworld Canada Ltd. (London) 67. Orgaworld Canada Ltd. (Ottawa) 68. Orillia (City) - Kitchener Street Landfill Site 69. Oxford (County) - Salford Landfill 70. Peel Region Torbram Road 71. Perth (Town) - Perth Landfill Site 72. Peterborough (City) - Harper Road Composting Site 73. Petrocorn Inc. 74. Pinehedge Farms 75. Sarnia (City) 76. Schouten Corner View Farms 77. Seacliff Energy 78. Southgate (Township) - Southgate (Formerly Egremont) Landfill Site 79. Stanton Dairy Farm 80. Sudbury (City of Greater Sudbury) 81. Terryland Farms Inc. 82. The Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay 83. TRY Recycling Inc. 84. Valley East Landfill (A540903) 85. Vandermeer Greenhouses Ltd 86. Wasaga Beach Landfill 87. Woolwich Bio-en