JIDE FOR CAPITAL WARDThe banner above is a video on Sweden's waste to energy solution. Please click on the play button to watch the video.
A COMPLETE WASTE TO ENERGY PILOT PROJECTImagine zero landfill provisioning!
That is, knowing the City of Ottawa, after a pre-set date and a pre-designated last garbage bag, will never ever again send another garbage bag to a landfill.
Landfills are, of course, the seemingly invisible final resting places of much of the non-recyclable garbage generated daily by Canada's cities. They are out of sight, and perhaps out of mind, but they do exist, and will continue to exist until city residents demand a better alternative. It is impossible to think of them as environmentally friendly, just as it is impossible for cities not to generate massive amounts of garbage.
The answer - that better alternative - might lie in incineration to generate energy, along with the use of the resulting emissions as a raw material in concrete mixing.
The result would be no landfills, no emissions in the environment, usable energy, and strong concrete.
As the video above attests, Sweden is a leader in the utilization of waste to energy solutions, with virtually all of its garbage - that would be landfill bound in Canada - incinerated to generate electricity and heat instead.
While Sweden vents the resulting carbon emissions, a pilot project in Ottawa could go one step further by
liquifying those emissions and utilizing them in the mixing of concrete.
A complete waste to energy pilot project is a bold proposal, and as Councillor for Capital Ward, it is one I would be honoured to not only advocate for, but work with colleagues on Council to see implemented in Ottawa.