Gena Alderson of Eco360 says that the introduction of a new recycling system in Moncton has been a great success.
“Our volume is up, our quality is better because our material is cleaner and also the market prices are up,” said Alderson.
The three bag method of recycling has resulted in a 35 per cent increase in recyclable material during 2016 and a sharp increase in revenue.
“On an average per year we make about $1 million off our recyclable here, so over the year that’s about $700,000 extra,” she said.
That extra income is now being filtered back to the community. The facility is now opened later on weekdays and weekends.
WATCH: New Brunswick electronic recycling program officially launched
Eco360 will even be starting a mobile ecology depot system.
“What that means is that we have a mobile unit that’s going to be going around to different service area, starting in September and we’ll be collecting material that’s a little harder for people to get rid of at the curb,” she said. “Especially for areas like Alma, Port Elgin, or those areas where you have to drive an hour an hour and a half to get to us, we want to make sure you do the right thing in disposing of your waste.”
Just a couple hundred meters from the recycling facility, the Southeast Regional Service Commission is also building a new generator.
The science behind garbage
When garbage decomposes it creates a liquid and a gas. The liquid, leachate, is treated on site and the gas, mostly methane, is converted into C02 and burnt.
“Instead of flaring it up, burning it off , we’re putting it through a generator, which will produce about one megawatt of power and its gonna meet all our needs on site and an additional 300 homes.” said Sebastian Hultberg, a mechanical engineer at Eco 360.
The generator cost $3.7 million to build and $300,000 a year to operate. It will generate one megawatt of power that will be sold to N.B. Power, which will mean about an extra $800,000 a year for the commission.
“In addition to producing electricity, there’s a lot of heat available as well, so future projects we have going on, is to recover a portion of that heat and to heat most of the facilities here on site,” said Hultberg.
The generator should be up and running by early fall.
Comments