Fertilizer maker says it can liquify food scraps 24-7 without making a stink in Hamilton’s east end

A fertilizer company says it can liquify food scraps around-the-clock at an east end plant without raising a stink by using new technology - and old environmental permits from the early 2000s.

The Spectator first reported in June that SUSGlobal Energy Corp. was planning to buy the long-vacant former Hamilton Bio Conversion compost plant on Nash Road that was infamous for warm barf" odour complaints two decades ago.

The new owners plan to use provincial environmental approvals first granted to Hamilton Bio Conversion in the early 2000s to operate out of the building - hopefully starting next year, said SUSGlobal president Marc Hazout.

But that's where the similarities between the old and new plants end, he said in an interview with The Spectator.

This is not a compost facility," he said, calling the food-scraps-to-fertilizer process self-contained" and in line with the city's modern commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the green economy."

The building will be redeveloped and enlarged to allow for lab and office space. It will not use negative air pressure to trap odours indoors, but Hazout said trucks can enter the tipping building and dump organics while bay doors are closed to minimize escaping smells.

He also said rotting veggies will not be stored for long periods and liquid leachate will be collected and fed back into a proprietary system of enzyme-filled tanks that turn food slurry" into fertilizer. There's no discharge, there's no (emissions) stack," he said.

Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik said residents deserve to know more about the operation before it starts.

But she's outraged regardless that any industrial plant would be allowed to recycle" nearly 20-year-old provincial approvals for an entirely new operation, stinky or not.

I just find it hard to believe you can buy environmental permissions along with a property. It seems like a pretty messed up way of doing things," said Lukasik, an east-end resident who drew attention to odour issues at the original Bio Conversion plant in the late 1990s.

Although the building has been vacant for years, the property still has valid provincial waste disposal approvals dating back to the early 2000s that allow 24-7 processing of up to 65,000 tonnes of organic waste a year.

That's three times the amount of green-bin organics processed at the city's compost plant, which downsized operations in the past after dealing with odour woes.

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks confirmed the existence of the environmental permits but added they will need to be amended if the new owner proposes significant changes to equipment." A permit amendment would trigger a public commenting opportunity and formal notification of neighbours.

Hazout said the company will meet any regulatory requirements - old or new - but added SUSGlobal plans to start small, with only one to three trucks a day of incoming food scraps sourced from municipalities or food terminals.

The old environmental approvals also allow for processing of sewage sludge, but the company does not use sewage or manure in its fertilizer-making process, he said.

So far, no building permit applications have been received by the city and Ward 5 Coun. Chad Collins said he has not heard from the company about its plans.

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com