Will CRD Solid Waste Management Plans Worsen Climate Emergency?
Guest Contributor: Frances Litman
The proposed expansion of the CRD Hartland Landfill will occur between 2045 and 2100 and result in the loss of more than 73 acres of trees. During this time, the world will have been transformed either through a severe change in climate if we cannot become carbon neutral by 2050, or by us changing fundamentally to living within nature’s limits and implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals dealing with social justice, equity, access to clean water and community engagement in governing.
There is no possibility of continuing to generate waste till 2100 and being carbon neutral.
We have to shift to a totally circular economy where there is no waste and greatly changed consumption patterns. If we do not reduce waste generation in a few years, the CRD will proceed with its expansion plans and removal of the forest.
CRD is Financially Motivated to Continue to Landfill Waste Despite Climate Emergency
The current CRD plan is to reduce waste generation per capita by 33% by 2030. This reduction would still require landfill expansion. The CRD discussed a new target of 66% reduction by 2030 but baulked at agreeing to it because this would reduce tipping fees so much that financial management of the landfill could become the responsibility of property owners through increased taxes. We need a solution to move quickly towards zero waste in a few years so the CRD expansion is stalled and eventually rejected.
Could Gasification Be the Answer?
This is where the gasifier comes into play. This technology does not require burning or incineration of waste. The gasifier uses thermal heat to convert waste into a bio char, which itself can capture atmospheric carbon, and a synthesis of gases consisting of hydrogen, methane carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. This syngas can be burnt as a renewable fuel both to power the gasifier and used as a heating source for buildings to replace fossil fuels. There are no pollutants from the gasifier as the thermal process occurs at a lower temperature than incineration and does not generate hydrocarbon pollution.
CRD Committed to Climate Endangering Landfill and Forest Destruction
Unfortunately, despite some people's wishes to shift immediately to zero waste without a gasifier, the CRD has built into its new solid waste management plan that per capita waste generation will continue for the next 50 years, albeit at a reduced rate. This approach leads to the inevitable expansion of the landfill and the removal of trees.
The use of a gasifier is an essential short term solution to reduce waste to the landfill and void the expansion requirements. Hopefully, once Esquimalt has built and operated a gasifier, other municipalities in the CRD will follow suit. We need a change of consciousness for what waste we need to produce and a shift to a full circular economy within 10 years. This includes a total recycling of demolition waste. A waste to energy gasification system offers a path towards this goal and a means for avoiding the unnecessary expansion of the landfill.
What is gasification? Is it the solution to achieving zero waste and reducing the need for the climate-destructive landfill option? Read Gasification Q&A…