Chapter 6 – Sustainability

Metro Vancouver Waste Incinerator “Waste-to-Energy Facility”

One of the topics we covered in our course in June 2019 was Metro Vancouver’s Waste to Energy Facility.  Here is a graphic from the Metro Vancouver’s fact sheet.

Waste to Energy Facility in Metro Vancouver, BC Canada
Waste to Energy Facility in Metro Vancouver, BC Canada — CC0 license as it comes from a government funded website http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/solid-waste/garbage-recycling/waste-to-energy-facility/about/Pages/default.aspx

 

In an attempt to nail down the costs, Jennifer Kirkey used the contact email address.  Here is the reply from Sarah Wellman, P.Eng. Senior Engineer, Solid Waste Operations.  “Thank you for your interest in Metro Vancouver’s Waste-to-Energy Facility. Please see the following link for the Waste-to-Energy Facility 2018 financial report. Please contact me if you have any other questions, or if you are interested in a tour of the facility.”  Sarah.Wellman@metrovancouver.org

http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/solid-waste/SolidWastePublications/Waste-to-EnergyFacility-2018FinancialUpdate.pdf

 

Here is a summary of the 2018 numbers

The cost to operate the facility was $20,497,223.

Please note that disposing of the fly ash was $1,385,142 of that cost.

The facility made  $5,584,341  by selling the electricity it made.

That works out to a cost of disposal of $58.16 per tonne.  Please note that it is a metric tonne = 1000 kg = 2204 pounds.

 

Here is a link to the facility web page.

https://www.covanta.com/Our-Facilities/Covanta-Burnaby

 

You can take a virtual tour here.

https://www.covanta.com/Covanta-Map/Virtual-Tour

 

Here is a photo of the facility from the Covanta web page.

 

Waste to Energy Facility Covanta in Metro Vancouver
Waste to Energy Facility operated by Covanta in Metro Vancouver. This image was accessed from the facility web page on June 7 2019 https://www.covanta.com/Our-Facilities/Covanta-Burnaby
A timely issue is that of the 26 containers of garbage that will be burnt there.  This is an international scandal and will be handled here in Burnaby, BC, Canada.  The ethics of recycling.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/philippines-garbage-canada-1.5149645

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To the extent possible under law, Jennifer Kirkey has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Engineering and Technology in Society - Canada, except where otherwise noted.

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