The Dufferin Organics Processing Facility located at 35 and 75 Vanley Crescent, includes a Green Bin Processing Facility. This facility was designed to process 25,000 tonnes of organic materials from Toronto’s Green Bin Program. The organic material that is produced at this facility is sent for further refinement into finished compost.
The facility received approval to increase the processing capacity to a total of 55,000 tonnes per year. Construction began in 2016 and on schedule to be completed by late December, 2018.
Please view the June 5, 2018 notice on commissioning and additional minor improvements within the facility.
A number of improvements have been constructed to increase the amount of organic Green Bin waste that can be processed, by an additional 30,000 tonnes. Major improvements include:
In addition to processing more Green Bin waste, other benefits include improved odour controls, ensuring building structures will last another number of years, and the facility complies with the sewer use by-law to protect the city’s sewer system.
Expansion work is on track and scheduled to be complete by the end of December, 2018.
Before the facility can resume normal operations to process Green Bin organic waste, it must go through a pre-commissioning and equipment testing process scheduled to start in June and continue through July 2018. As the facility goes through the commissioning phase in August and September, the amount of Green Bin organic waste to be processed will slowly be increased until it reaches full operating levels. This will ensure that all systems, including the odour control and wastewater treatment systems are performing at an optimal level.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is currently reviewing the addition of a wastewater tank within the facility. It will not require a change in the general scope of the expanded facility design that was already approved by MOECC in 2016. This tank will provide an additional 40 per cent storage capacity, help reduce the overall long-term operation and maintenance costs and add more flexibility to the overall system.
The capacity of the odour treatment system will also be increased as part of the additional wastewater tank installation. The commissioning of these minor improvements will begin upon receiving MOECC approval.
By the end of August, when the facility has resumed full operations, approximately 11 trucks will be entering and exiting the site each day (similar to past operations 2005 – 2014). Truck traffic should not have a major impact on normal traffic movements.
While the odour treatment system will be operating during the pre-commissioning and equipment test efforts, there is a small chance that some odour emissions may be released. The odour treatment system will be tested and confirmed to be operating fully in conjunction with construction contract specifications and approval conditions, before the facility is permitted to operate at full capacity in accordance with Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECA) Nos. A280709 and 6076-9QZKTY for the Dufferin Waste Management Facility.
Please telephone 311 if you experience an increase in odour.
City staff will continue to monitor and address all odour complaints.
Complaints are accepted 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through the City’s 311 phone number. Complaint details will be logged, a notification will be sent to the District Manager at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Spills Action Centre, and an internal investigation will be conducted to determine the cause for complaint. This will be followed by a remedial course of action.