Sainte-Sophie, QC - Sainte-Sophie
- Waste Management along with partners Gaz Métro and
Cascades today launched a successful biogas energy project that
uses landfill gas to power Cascades' fine paper plant in Saint-Jérôme,
Quebec.
For the past five months, waste materials in Waste Management's
Sainte-Sophie landfill have been converted to green biogas energy.
Gaz Métro feeds the biogas via a 13 km secure pipeline
to the Cascades plant, where the biogas meets 75% of the thermal
energy required to power its paper production equipment.
"The success of this operation is the result of the close
collaboration and exceptional know-how of our two partners,
Gaz Métro and Cascades," explained Dan Pio, President
of Waste Management. "We're looking to develop other landfill
gas projects throughout Canada in the future."
"Ongoing improvement in areas of sustainable development
and the environment lies at the heart of Cascades' concerns.
And this was a natural partnership because the technology developed
by Intersan was a perfect fit with our management philosophy,"
asserted Denis Jean, President of Cascades - Fine Papers Group.
"The total reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our
biogas capture, combustion and valorization activities equals
the sustained efforts of 540,000 people meeting the Government
of Canada's One Ton Challenge. And we're proud to share those
results with our partners."
"Gaz Métro's participation in this innovative project
also made sense since our primary mandate is to distribute natural
gas in Québec. Our role is to provide efficiency, reliability
and safety for everyone involved in this project and for the
community that will reap its benefits," stated Simon Garneau,
Sales and Market Development Director - Major Companies, Gaz
Métro. "Biogas valorization represents a huge step
forward for Québec and an even bigger step toward sustainable
development. Gaz Métro is proud to bring its support
to this project and is actively working toward developing others
of its kind."
Waste Management has played a leading role in developing bioreactor
technology which accelerates the decomposition of organic waste
by increasing the moisture content in landfills that also creates
methane gas that can used to generate clean, reliable and renewable
energy.
When a landfill uses bioreactor techniques, its waste compacts
more quickly and its capacity can increase by 15 percent or
more. As a result, the existing landfill space is used more
efficiently and there is less need to expand in the future.
Another benefit is that the landfill generates gas faster, allowing
for better emissions control and more efficient gas-to-energy
use.
Landfill gas is produced by the natural breakdown of waste
in landfills. The gas, which would otherwise be wasted, has
become a readily available renewable energy source, one that
can be either used directly for industrial purposes or sold
to gas-to-energy plants to fuel generators that in turn produce
electricity.
Regulatory agencies have endorsed landfill gas as an environmentally
friendly resource that offsets the need for non-renewable resources
like coal and oil. In fact, landfill gas is the only renewable
energy source that, when used, directly prevents atmospheric
pollution.
Waste Management has been developing landfill gas-to-energy
projects for more than 15 years. The Company currently supplies
landfill gas to nearly 100 projects in North America. The over
60 gas to electricity projects provide more than 200 megawatts
of energy, enough to power 215,000 homes. Additionally, the
nearly 40 projects that sell landfill gas as a fuel to industrial
users replace over two million barrels of oil per year. Over
the years, Waste Management's commitment to capturing and using
landfill gas has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
our landfills by 50 percent.
Largely because of the gas recovery projects, Waste Management
has become one of the largest private holders of greenhouse
gas emission reduction credits in North America. In fact, the
Company is the founding member of the Chicago Climate Exchange
that promotes the trading of greenhouse gas emission credits,
which are earned by companies who limit or eliminate harmful
CO2 emissions.
Waste Management is the leading provider of comprehensive
waste management services in Canada. The company offers advanced
residential, commercial and industrial collection, recycling
and disposal services throughout the country. It employs over
3,400 people at 116 operating units in 8 provinces, and serves
4.5 million residential customers as well as 170,000 industrial
and commercial customers. Waste Management of Canada owns and/or
operates 20 recycling recovery facilities and 18 landfills.
Gaz Métro is a leading Québec energy firm
and one of Canada's largest natural gas distributors. Gaz Métro
serves about 157,000 customers in Québec through an underground
pipeline network of some 10,000 km. One of its subsidiaries,
Vermont Gas System, serves another 36,000 customers. Gaz Métro
also owns significant investment interests in two natural gas
transportation businesses (TQM and Portland Natural Gas Transmission
System) and in a business specializing in underground natural
gas storage facilities (Intragaz). Gaz Métro also sells
goods and services through various companies in the energy (Gaz
Métropolitan Plus Group) and fibre optic fields (VDN
Cable), and provides diagnostic and rehabilitation services
for drinking water and waste water infrastructures (Aqua Data
and Aqua-Rehab).
Cascades Fine Papers Group is a Canadian leader in fine
paper manufacturing which produces, converts, and markets packaging
products, fine papers and tissue papers which are mostly made
from recycled fibres. Boasting the widest range of Canadian-made
recycled alkaline papers, Cascades lies at the forefront of
the recycled paper market.
For further information:
|
Wes Muir
Director, Public Affairs and Communications
Waste Management
(905) 633 3940
|
|
Stéphane Mailhot
Corporate Communications Director
Cascades
(819) 352-0982
|
|
Philippe Batani
Public & Government Affairs
Gaz Métro
(514) 598-3164
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