Executive Summary:

N/A

Background:

At its meeting of January 15, 2018, Council received a report from the City Engineer regarding an update on the Waste Free Ontario Act as it relates to food and organic waste. The Act will require the City of Windsor to provide curbside collection of source separated food and organic waste to single-family dwellings by 2025. This collection program will target 70% waste diversion from landfill. Neighbouring municipalities in Essex County will have responsibilities varying from no collection and no targets for diversion to some type of collection (curbside, depot or subsidized home-composters) in urban areas and 50% waste diversion.

Under an existing service contract, dewatered biosolids produced at the Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant (LRWRP) and the Little River Pollution Control Plant (LRPCP) are heat dried and pelletized at the Windsor Biosolids Processing Facility (WBPF). The pellets are used as a Class A fertilizer. The current contract will expire in 2029. By 2030 the City anticipates upgrades will be required to the WBPF to increase capacity.

In July, 2020, the City issued an Expression of Interest (EOI#114-20) to determine options that exist for partnerships within the public sector to meet the City’s goal of processing organic waste resulting from future curbside food and organic waste collection. This EOI further requested submissions to consider the processing of biosolids from wastewater treatment operations to explore synergies between existing City operations.

Discussion:

Collection and Treatment of Source Separated Organics

As mentioned above, the City of Windsor is required to provide curbside collection of organic waste by 2025. The EOI was issued to determine options that exist for partnerships within the public sector to meet the City’s goal of processing organics with an option to include biosolids.

The results of the EOI provided a range of technologies including; trucking of organics to communities outside Windsor/Essex, traditional composting operations, advanced composting technologies and Anaerobic Digestion.

Treatment and Processing of Sewage Sludge (Biosolids)

Sewage biosolids from the LRWRP and the LRPCP are dewatered on-site and transported to the WBPF site. WBPF heat dries and pelletizes the biosolids to produce a Class A fertilizer bio-product. This Class A fertilizer is then marketed by the Operator to agricultural operations.

The WBPF is operated under an existing service contract that will expire in 2029 with options to extend the contract life. Based on population growth, the City anticipates that the WBPF will reach its design capacity by 2030.