Plasco doesn't meet 3rd financing deadline; city contract in question

The City of Ottawa could start the process of terminating its waste conversion contract with Plasco next month after the company missed its final deadline to provide plans for a waste-to-energy plant.

In a memo to council, city manager Kent Kirkpatrick said Plasco did not raise enough money to build a plant that would take residential waste and turn it into electricity by theNew Years Eve deadline.

Plasco has missed such a deadline twice before and was granted an extension from the city both times.

• Plasco and city ink garbage-to-energy deal
• Environment committee votes for Plasco extension
• Plasco mulls smaller plant as financing deadline approaches

This time, Kirkpatrick said, the city now has the option to terminate its 20-year, $180 million contract signed in 2012, a decision that is up to council.

In light of the above-noted developments, a staff report will be tabled at the next Environment Committee meeting on February 17, 2015, on this matter, Kirkpatrick said.

The staff report will include the results of the Request for Expressions of Interest that Council directed staff to undertake if the December 31, 2014 deadline was not met, along with other information related to this decision and the contract.

Chair doesn't want a new landfill

New environment committee chair David Chernushenko said last month if they do seek another option, it shouldnt be another landfill.

"It would have to be a technological solution, likely some form of energy-from-waste solution. There are many, he said.

Plasco was one of them, and we would need to move very rapidly to exploring what others are out there.

Plasco had recently informed the city it was looking into building a smaller plant than its planned facility in the south end, which had a target of 130,000 tonnes of waste handled annually.

It was to use a process called plasma gasification to turn residential waste into gases using electricity and high temperatures.