Backgrounder: Construction of an organic waste treatment plant in Rivière-du-Loup
12 January 2010
Rivière-du-Loup, Québec
The organic waste treatment plant slated for Rivière-du-Loup can also be described as an anaerobic organic waste digestion system or bio-methanization plant.
Anaerobic digestion takes place when organic matter decomposes without oxygen. The chief products of this process are carbon dioxide and methane gas.
The purpose of the project is to install an anaerobic organic waste digestion system that generates biomethane, a renewable fuel. The biomethane will serve as a lower-cost alternate fuel for municipalities and businesses in the Rivière-du-Loup region interested in converting their vehicles.
The organic waste used in the anaerobic digestion process will be collected in “brown bins” from residences, factories, businesses and various types of institutions (cafeterias, grocery stores, food processing plants, wastewater treatment plants, slaughterhouses, restaurants, and waste grease collection and septic tank pumping services).
It will be possible to treat nearly 20,000 tonnes of waste annually under this project. Other environmental benefits include:
a significant reduction in greenhouse gases (approximately 7,455 tonnes of CO2 per year)
