February 11, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA RECEIVES ONE MILLION DOLLARS
FOR GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT GREEN WASTE DISPOSAL RESEARCH

Today’s announcement represents the second round of funding under the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Excellence program. In this round, the government is providing $6,089,600 to support three world-class projects at the University of Ottawa.

Reducing The Environmental Impacts Of Municipal Waste

Integrated Sludge and Solid Waste Management Solutions
Developing a more efficient waste management system

Lead researcher: Dr. Leta F. Fernandes
Total project cost: $ 3,000,000
Provincial funding: $1,000,000

University of Ottawa researchers have discovered potentially new ways to divert large amounts of waste from landfills and minimize damage to the environment.

Despite increased recycling, composting and incineration, sanitary landfill remains the main municipal solid waste disposal method in Canada. With the amount of solid waste continually rising, it has become increasingly important to deal with it more efficiently.

Researchers are convinced they can develop a waste management system that can divert 65 per cent of the waste from landfill. University of Ottawa researchers will build on advances in three technologies — bioreactor landfill, anaerobic waste digestion and waste pyrolysis — to increase the rate of biodegradation of organic waste, produce methane gas for energy generation and create compost.

The goal of the project is to commercialize new technologies for processing municipal solid waste. As waste diversion and the need for clean electricity become a challenge for more and more municipalities, this technology will present an environmentally sustainable choice for processing a significant amount of municipal solid waste around the world.

Key private sector partners:
LaFlèche Environmental Inc.

Key facts :

• About 20 per cent of Canada’s share of global warming gasses come from landfill sites
• The average Canadian throws out 1.5 kilograms of waste every day
• According to 2004 figures, municipal systems divert about 30 per cent of waste collected; University of Ottawa researchers believe their research can bring that up to 65 per cent
• Their methods will include:
  
  
• bioreactor landfill: a process by which water and air are circulated into a specially designed landfill to accelerate decomposition of waste and maximize the generation of methane for capture and use as a clean fuel for energy production
• anaerobic waste digestion: a process where organic waste is processed in an oxygen-free environment, producing a stable solid, similar to compost, and a clean fuel for energy production
• waste pyrolysis: a process where waste is heated in an oxygen-free environment to create a stable, inert solid material and a clean fuel for energy production
• Ontario has also invested $4 million in a demonstration plant operated by the Plasco Energy Group in Ottawa. The goal of that project is to divert 85 tonnes of garbage from landfill each day, and turn that waste into clean electricity.

Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence Program

This second round of funding under the Research Excellence program will invest  $114,709,614 to support 19 world-class projects at nine Ontario universities, institutes and hospitals. Funding will be matched by 107 major industry and other partners participating in the projects.

For more information about the Ontario Research Fund, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.

-30-