Don't knock waste incinerators, say Metro directors
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Four Metro Vancouver directors say their controversial trip to Sweden has given them fresh insight into how to reduce and manage waste.
And they say the contentious idea of burning garbage as a fuel to generate electricity and heat seems to work well there.
New waste-to-energy plants are among the options to handle Metro Vancouver's garbage in the years ahead after the Cache Creek landfill closes in 2010.
In Sweden, the plants are integrated into local neighbourhoods and supply heat to surrounding buildings through district heating networks.
"Their whole pattern of urban design became based on district heating and cooling networks," said West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.
She toured Swedish recycling and waste-handling sites for a week in late May along with Surrey Coun. Linda Hepner, Delta Coun. Scott Hamilton and Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal.
One town was heated 85 per cent by waste- or biomass-fired plants, with the remaining 15 per cent coming from geothermal heat pumps.
"No one uses electricity for heating," Goldsmith-Jones told Metro Vancouver directors Friday. "That is viewed as a complete waste of a precious resource."
Some critics denounced the trip as a junket that aimed to reinforce what they say is Metro's bias in favour of building new waste incinerators here.
Opponents say building expensive waste-fired plants will create a market for garbage and commit the region to "feeding" the plants, rather than finding innovative ways to recycle or prevent waste in the first place.
Goldsmith-Jones said Swedish officials advised the delegation not to count on consumers to change their wasteful ways out of environmental awareness or social pressure alone, and said firm regulation would be needed.
"It takes political leadership and this is probably going to be one of the more significant challenges we face," the West Vancouver mayor said.
Directors said they were struck by the ease of recycling options in Sweden and the degree to which behaviour there has become ingrained.
Hepner said they saw large portions of new buildings that had been built out of construction waste, thanks to careful demolition of buildings and exchange of salvaged materials.
All four director said they remain committed to trying to reduce waste as a first priority, in line with Metro's Zero Waste initiative.
Hamilton said the region may have to admit the goal of "zero waste" is unreachable and look instead to alternatives, such as waste-to-energy.
He said data presented by the Swedes show almost negligible air pollutants coming from the waste-fired plants there.
The Swedes argued it's better to recover all energy possible from garbage as a final step before landfilling it, Hepner added.
Metro board chair Lois Jackson defended the delegation's trip, which cost the region $33,500.
"The investment of our dollars to send you there are coming back 100-fold or more," she said.
Swedes burn or compost much more than they dump
Sweden now landfills four per cent of its waste, compared to 39 per cent for Metro Vancouver and 74 per cent for Canada as a whole.
Surprisingly, Metro Vancouver scores better on recycling – 49 per cent of waste here is counted as recycled versus 37 per cent in Sweden.
But, the numbers compiled by regional district officials are deceptive, because the Swedes generate much less waste per capita in the first place.
The average Swede generates 518 kilograms of waste a year, compared to 700 for the average Metro Vancouverite and 1,037 for the typical Canadian.
Sweden also composts 12 per cent of its waste (the rest of Europe ranges from 10 per cent in Finland to 28 per cent in the Netherlands).
Metro Vancouver so far only composts four per cent, but it's counting on that to increase when food waste pickup begins under an organics composting initiative expected to launch later this year. Food waste makes up an estimated 13 per cent of the waste stream now.
Most of Europe also makes much greater use of waste-to-energy plants.
Just eight per cent of Metro Vancouver's waste is incinerated – at its Burnaby Waste-to-Energy Facility.
Sweden incinerates 47 per cent of its garbage, while Germany, France and the Netherlands send 35 to 40 per cent of their trash to waste-to-energy plants.
Metro aims to increase its combined recycling and composting rate to 70 per cent by 2020.
© Copyright 2007 Surrey North Delta Leader