Iris Solutions has been selected as the preferred proponent by the city of Surrey, British Columbia, to finalize an agreement to design, build, partially finance, maintain and operate the Surrey Biofuels Processing Facility project.

Once the biofuel processing facility is operational, Surrey will be home to the first closed-loop fully-integrated organics waste management system in North America. The facility will convert kitchen waste and yard waste collected at curbside into renewable natural gas that will fuel the city’s natural gas waste collection trucks. The facility will also produce a compost product that will be suitable for landscaping and agricultural applications.

“We’ve reached an exciting and important milestone in our progression towards generating renewable energy from our waste,” said Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner. “The city of Surrey is very proud to be a world leader in sustainable waste management practices.”

The city expects to finalize a fixed price, performance-based agreement with Iris Solutions in early 2015, with design-build activities getting underway shortly thereafter. The facility will be operational by late 2016.

The city’s approach to developing this facility is through a public-private partnership (P3), with the Government of Canada contributing 25 percent of the capital costs through its P3 Canada Fund.

“Council is pleased to move forward with this exciting and environmentally sustainable project,” said Councilor Bruce Hayne. “We look forward to continuing Surrey’s positive growth within clean energy industries, as laid out in our Sustainability Charter.”

The facility will be designed to receive and process 115,000 metric tons of organic waste annually. When completed, the facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada with a capacity to process 100 percent of the city’s organic waste, along with commercial organic waste, helping Metro Vancouver achieve its regional 70 percent waste diversion target.

This project is integral to Surrey’s Rethink Waste program launched in October 2012, which includes curbside organics collection and a fleet of compressed natural gas waste collection trucks. The Rethink Waste program has already led to an over 40 percent reduction in Surrey’s residential garbage sent to the landfill.

To learn more about the project and Surrey’s waste collection services, visit www.surrey.ca/rethinkwaste.