Press release.
Last night Council approved a contract with Recyclable Material Marketing (ReMM) and Rizzo Environmental Services to process up to 28,000 additional tonnes of recyclables from Detroit, Michigan at Guelph’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
To process the additional recyclables, the City will operate a second work shift at the MRF and hire up to an additional 36 employees. This shift will run Monday to Friday from 3:30 to 11:30 p.m. in compliance with the facility’s Environmental Compliance Agreement issued by the Ministry of the Environment.
The annual revenue generated from the contract will cover the facility’s operating and maintenance costs, compensation for the new employees, and provide an annual surplus of about $300,000.
The operational efficiency of the MRF will also increase with the addition of up to 28,000 tonnes, as it will allow the facility to use 95 per cent of its processing capacity.
A separate contract between the City and ReMM, also approved, will have ReMM haul and dispose of up to 22,500 tonnes of residual waste at an energy-from-waste facility in Detroit. This contract offers a lower per tonne cost than the City is currently paying to dispose of residual waste at landfill. In addition to the cost savings, an energy-from-waste disposal option supports the City’s Community Energy Initiative and is preferred by residents—as identified in the City’s recent Solid Waste Management Master Plan Review survey—as an alternative to landfill.
Read more in the Council report.
About Guelph’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF)
Built in 1995, the MRF and its 48 employees process approximately 15,000 tonnes of Guelph’s recyclables annually—keeping it out of the landfill.
The MRF has recently undergone energy efficiency upgrades, which has reduced the facility’s overall energy consumption and is saving the City approximately $120,000 dollars annually.