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Thursday, January 22, 2004
Letters Editor
300 - 1450 Don Mills Road,
Don Mills, Ontario
Canada
M3B 3R5
Dear Editor:
Making money by sinking trash
Michael LeGault suggests it is much less expensive to place organic trash in landfills than to recycle it. (Trashing money, FP comment, 03/01/22, FP15)
It is conceivable that landfills could be designed to trap their carbon content underground, turning them into carbon sinks in emulation of Mother Nature’s control of greenhouse gases. Plans, such as Kyoto, to manage greenhouse gases envisage substantial payment for sinks. Thus, in addition to the lowered costs for management of trash in landfills, in comparison to recycling, there is the possibility they could reduce costs still more through the sale of atmospheric greenhouse gas removal credits.
Each tonne of dry organic trash represents the removal of about two tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Our federal government has assured the oil industry they will pay no more than $15/tonne for such credits over the Kyoto compliance period. It is likely a much higher price would be needed to actually discourage carbon dioxide emissions. Landfill operations might become a profitable business some day, rather than a cost to municipalities, taking into consideration the disposal cost of $13/tonne cited by Mr. Legault for the Keele Landfill site.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast
Principal Engineer