In 2012 Farallon completed a comprehensive Integrated Resource Recovery study for the Comox Valley Regional District. The study examined opportunities for recovering energy and other resources from the potable water system, liquid waste, solid waste, and industrial waste heat.
The study found that an integrated solution for regional solid waste based on source separation would reduce the capital cost of waste management to taxpayers by an estimated $20 million and also generate an estimated $1.9 million/year of revenues, rather than a cost of $1 million per year for the business-as-usual option – an estimated net improvement of approximately $3 million per year.
The integrated solution would also support the economic, social, and environmental goals in the CVRD’s Regional Growth Strategy, the Comox Valley Sustainability Strategy, and the Solid Waste Management Plan and would result in greenhouse gas reductions of 23,000 tonnes/year. The results of the study were also presented at the 2013 Water Environment Federation’s Energy and Water Conference, and published as Integrating Liquid and Solid Waste Planning to Make Green Infrastructure Pay in the conference proceedings.