In or about 2021, the City of Burnaby began exploring a proposal to build a fully enclosed Green Recycling & Organics facility where yard waste and (food scraps would be converted into high- quality organic compost. Processing green waste and organics in Burnaby would also save greenhouse gas emissions from trucks transporting green waste to a private green waste recycling facility in Delta.
The City saw another opportunity here – the GRO facility process involves break-down of organic waste in an oxygen-deficient environment, which creates biogas, primarily methane. Although methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80% more harmful than carbon dioxide, it was thought that the biogas could be “scrubbed” so it could be used as a renewable substitute for fossil-fuel based “natural gas”. The City proposed to create a District Energy Facility that would supply heat to 5,000 homes using the scrubbed gas.
The City had difficulty finding a large enough site for the almost 20 acre facility and ultimately recommended that it be constructed on land they wanted to remove from the Fraser Park ecological reserve, a scarce, treasured wetland habitat. The Mayor and City Council unanimously supported the project being built on the Fraser Foreshore ecological reserve site. Fierce public opposition brought the project to a screeching halt. See https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/watch-dinosaur-protesters-storm-burnaby-city-hall- to-oppose-compost-plant-on-wetlands-6694594 and https://www.burnabynow.com/local- news/burnaby-council-votes-on-gro-plan-for-compost-facility-on-parkland-6728741.
How much did the GRO facility project cost Burnaby taxpayers before it was abandoned? By some reports, it was almost $2 million dollars.
