The city, in partnership with Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc., will begin installing new equipment at the Dufferin Solid Waste Management Facility later this year. The new equipment will allow the city and Enbridge to transform the raw biogas produced from processing Toronto’s Green Bin organics into renewable natural gas and inject it into the gas grid. Once in the grid, the city will be able to use the biomethane to fuel its collection trucks. The first cubic meter of fuel is expected to be produced by the third quarter of 2019.
“This project represents a path to low-carbon fuel for the city and will play an important role in helping us reach our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050,” said Mayor Tory. “I’m committed to working with City Council and city staff to ensure we are meeting our climate change action goals and to creating a more sustainable Toronto.”
This project is one of the first of its kind in Canada and North America and will allow the city to reduce fuel costs for its fleet of collection trucks and significantly reduce its carbon footprint. The initiative also supports the city’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy and move toward a circular economy by using a closed-loop approach in which organics collection trucks are ultimately powered by the waste product they collect.
The city is partnering with Enbridge on the design and construction of the new equipment as well as its operation and maintenance for the first 15 years. Current estimates suggest that the Dufferin facility will produce approximately 5.3 million cubic meters of biomethane per year – enough to power 132 heavy duty garbage trucks or about 90% of the city’s solid waste collection fleet. This is the first of four waste-to-power production opportunities identified by the city.
Source: City of Toronto
