Durham/York Region - Ontario, Canada

Covanta will design, construct and operate a municipally-owned 140,000 tonne-per-year Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility in Ontario’s (Canada) Clarington Business Park in the Durham Region. Final permits were granted in June 2011, and the construction phase is currently undeway. The project is estimated to cost approximately C$260 million and will be financed by the Durham and York regions. The project will serve the waste disposal needs of both regions and be the first North American EfW Greenfield project since 1992.

The Ontario Provincial Minister of the Environment gave an approval of the Environmental Assessment and Notice to Proceed with the undertaking of the project in November, 2010. In June 2011 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) issued the Certificate of Approval for the project. In July 2011, a special council meeting in Durham resulted in approval of the co-owners agreement with York, and the project officially commenced with a target operation date of late 2014.

When operating at design capacity, the facility will be capable of producing 17.5 megawatts (MW) of clean renewable energy, enough to power approximately 10,000 homes. In the future, steam from the facility’s 20 MW steam turbine could be utilized for district heating in an industrial park adjacent to the facility heating the equivalent of 2,200 homes. Electricity will be sold to the provincial grid as base load energy. The facility will also recover ferrous (e.g. steel) and non-ferrous (e.g. aluminum etc.) metals for recycling.

It is estimated that facility construction will create approximately 400 jobs over a three year period. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ approximately 35 - 40 skilled people on a full-time basis. 

For more information about the project visit: http://www.durhamyorkwaste.ca/project_index.htm