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economist sunsuntribune environment saturday nov 20 2004 york keen to host scheme to make alternative fuel from garbage would be first in canada bymikeadler staff writer york regions great hope to stop sending household trash to michigan in the next few years is a hard brown mottled cylinder two inches long thats what garbage looks like when drained of all moisture shredded mixed with high heating value mate rial so it will burn and then pulverized into a pellet cement factories can use as fuel and mayor michael di biase said his council supports the proposal and wants to bring the pellet plant in an industrial area between hwy 7 and steeles avenue its good its clean and i support it he added i dont see why the region would not embrace it and move for ward with it its a plan untested in canada but boreahs an investment arm of a municipal employees pension fund has vaughah eager to host a pellet fac tory and york region ready to sign a contract next june provided ontarios environment ministry approves the factory and the new alternative fuel some environmental ists call dangerous waste pellets will help yorks munici palities reach their 60percent diver sion targets and cut coal use in cement factories said betty disero of mcw light heat cool ltd consultants for borealis turning garbage into pellets has never been done in canada but bore alis through a company called don- gara developments originally wanted to go a step further by proposing a toronto plant to heat pellets at high temperatures in a process called gasifi cation drawing out useful gases and leaving a glassy material behind as head of torontos waste manage ment committee ms disero recom mended the city find a process to make energy from waste after leaving city council she started a consulting career with mcw and approached toronto and niagara region with plans for gasification which the firm argues is not incinera tion because no combustion is involved our lungs become the landfill mcw however has since changed its approach shelving gasification for the short term and proposing a pellet plant in york that can handle around 110000 tonnes far less than the amount ms disero says a gasification plant needs to be profitable were trying to get the gta munici palities to make pellets as a first step and look down the road as technology changes again to make fuel from garbage she said garbage arriving at the plant would be sorted to remove recyclables stones rubble and hazardous waste in 18 hours the pellets could be shipped to cement factories which burn 600000 tonnes of coal a yearin ontario ms disero said adding leftover ash from pellets would be used in cement the heat in a cement factory kiln is almost the same heat as the sun it is so strong she explained the pellets burn cleaner than coal according to mcws physi cal betty disero former toronto councillor now promoting scheme to turn trash into pellets to fuel cement kilns comparison of typical coal and a typical pellet pellets appear to have lower levels of lead sulphur cadmium and other harmful materials than coal she said but gord perks spokesperson for the toronto environmental alliance said theres no reliable data to support mcws cleaner burning claim and argues burning trash pellets will create highly toxic dioxins and furans mcw is merely the latest in a long line of guys trying to promote pelletiza- tion which is incineration by another name and each place where pellets are burned would be a waste disposal site he said our lungs become the landfill mcw representatives met with min istry officials last week to discuss their plans but a ministry spokesperson said the company has not filed a formal proposalthe region however expects this to happen this month mr di biase however said he told york region chairperson bill fisch and the regions waste management com mittee the city will take the plant on condition it takes vaugharis curbside garbage first saving its taxpayers the cost of trucking it to a transfer station somewhere else that condition is apparently news to committee chairperson danny wheeler the company wants volume from the entire region not just one munici pality vaughan would be just as wel come as anyone else the georgina councillor says the region must wait for the min istrys final word on pelletization and the use of pellets in kilns which mr greenbelt plan popular survey says environmental group claims widespread support by mike adler staff writer poll results this week are a powerful message from ontarians the provincial government should stand firm on the golden horse shoe greenbelt the advo cacy group environmental defence says a survey for the group suggests 81 per cent of ontario residents support the provinces greenbelt plan and only 7 per cent oppose it told the plan will pro tect one million acres of farms and greenspaces from niagara falls to rice lake near peterborough 7 per cent thought that amount too much while 35 per cent said the greenbelt would protect too little ontarians support this greenspace protection approach and they want to see more of it concluded rick smith environmental defences executive direc tor theyre tired of sprawl smog and gridlock and see the greenbelt as a real chance to protect the envi ronment and improve our quality of life of the 795 adults sur veyed across the province between nov 12 and 17 by oraclepoll 64 per cent agreed the building of new subdivi sions on farmland and green pace in the gta is out of control while 9 per cent disagree 81 per cent agreed rush hour traffic congestion in the gta is out of control 86 per cent agreed it is important to protect the fertile farmland in the gta 69 per cent said the next generation of ontari ans will consider the green belt which in york region would include the oak ridges moraine as well as most land north of it along with valleys of the rouge and humber rivers a benefit while only 4 per cent thought it would be seen as a mistake 74 per cent supported the development of more compact transitfriendly neighbourhoods although environmen tal defence rejects calls to compensate farmers for money they might receive by selling land to develop ers most respondents did not told the governments of mike harris and bill davis did not compensate farmers when they formed protected areas on the nia gara escarpment and oak ridges moraine 49 per cent supported compensation for greenbelt farmers while 24 per cent opposed it york federation of agri culture president terry oconnor who met 50 farmers at markham fair grounds to discuss the plan last week said the green belt will result in less equity and retirement income for his members you can preserve farm land but without some assistance youll never pre serve farming he told municipal affairs minister john gerretsen at a toronto meeting this week it may well be farmers need economic programs for support mr gerretsen said but added this wasnt something his ministry was asked to consider a panel of provincial advisers last month ruled out compensating green belt farmers for potential loss of land value but rec ommended they receive environmental payments for stewardship of their lands public meetings on the greenbelt continue until dec 2 the ministry encourages people to com plete a survey on the plan by dec 12 at wwwgreen- beltontarioca or by calling 18662202290 consultations this year produced an overwhelm ing consensus we need to do something about con tinuing losses of gta farm land wetlands and wood- lots ministry spokesperson victor doyle said this week a deafersftiv fafttrnative full service available ton gm ford chrysler toyota honda mazda nissan kia suzuki hyundai isuzu cube trucks limousines acdelco wvwvmavk vv imtctcm mbttage rf markham