­Metro Vancouver staff have commissioned a report from AECOM Technology Corporation, a fortune 500 company, to explore waste management options.

This report was touted as being impartial, yet it suggested that Metro pursue waste incineration over other options.
 
"It’s no surprise that this company, which currently operates an incinerator in Alberta and is a member of the Canadian Waste to Energy lobby organization, would recommend incineration," said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.  "Now that AECOM’s own facility in Swan Hills, AB is failing that might be the last nail in the coffin of this report which has already been widely criticized," said West.

Media is reporting that the half billion dollar Swan Hills facility operated by AECOM may be facing a full closure due to financial concerns.

"This development should make decision-makers and concerned citizens question the impartiality of the AECOM report and the ability for this company to make appropriate recommendations," said West.

The AECOM report has been called into question by a report done by KPMG and presented to the Vancouver Board of Trade. KPMG is Metro Vancouver’s own auditing firm. Their report suggests that in the AECOM report revenues have been overestimated and costs underestimated. The KPMG report raises concerns about the need for more detailed risk assessment.

The Solid Waste Reference Panel, a group of local waste management experts assembled to make recommendations to the Metro Vancouver Waste Management committee, has proposed a number of specific recommendations for amendments to the waste management plan that would require that the AECOM study be re-considered. Notably the Reference Panel suggests a much greater emphasis on waste diversion through programs which would hold manufacturers responsible for the end-of-life of their products (including packaging) as opposed to the local or regional governments.

Finally, an amendment passed by members of the Metro Vancouver Waste Management Committee at their meeting on July 21st included banning all compostable organic material and wood waste from both landfill and incineration by 2015.

This change would drastically alter the findings of the AECOM report in terms of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by various waste management options. Metro Vancouver is legally required to meet stringent GHG reduction targets over the next 40 years as set out by the government of BC.

"The ban on compostable organic material is a real game changer. It means the methane from landfill would be drastically reduced if not eliminated and the emissions from burning plastics and other inorganic material would be increased. This change would render AECOM's climate projections meaningless and would make incineration clearly the least responsible waste management option in terms of climate change. Metro directors need to consider these new realities clearly before they vote on this proposed plan," said West.

Metro Vancouver Directors will vote on the proposed waste management plan including the controversial proposal to build a new waste incinerator on Friday, July 30th.

For more information please contact:

Ben West, Wilderness Committee Healthy Communities Campaigner, 604-710-5340