A new facility in Dundalk aimed at processing organic waste has received another thumbs up from the province as the project moves forward.
The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks approved revised stormwater plans for the Southgate Renewables site located at 160 Eco Parkway on August 28.
This facility is being built to handle organic waste, including items collected through municipal green-bin programs, turning it into renewable natural gas.
“The proposed works will recycle the source-separated organics from municipal green bin programs and other commercial organic residual materials through the anaerobic digestion process,” states the Environmental Registry of Ontario.
With provincial approval, this facility can take in up to 700 tonnes of waste daily and as much as 73,000 tonnes each year.
The service area approved includes Ontario along with New York, Michigan, and Ohio.
Organic material will undergo anaerobic digestion, generating biogas and digestate. The biogas will be refined into renewable natural gas for injection into Enbridge’s distribution network, while digestate is expected to serve as fertilizer.
The federal government is contributing over $38 million towards this initiative via Natural Resources Canada.
“The proponent will construct an anaerobic digestion facility in Dundalk, Ontario, that will recycle approximately 73,000 tonnes of primarily source-separated organics annually from the ‘green bin’ programs of municipalities throughout Ontario,” says the record on federal funding.
This project has been in development for several years now.
A report from Township of Southgate staff indicates that a purchase agreement related to this initiative was first approved by the municipality back in 2017, followed by provincial environmental approval in 2019.
“The project has experienced delays with amendments and further ministry and conservation authority approvals causing extensions,” noted the township report.
The deadline for substantial completion has now been pushed back to December 31, 2027.
When up and running, this facility is expected to operate continuously, allowing waste deliveries and shipments of digestate six days a week.
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