At the Feb. 6 Village of Burns Lake meeting, Jacob Hanlon, FoodCycle Science municipal program coordinator, presented their new food cycle science technology.
Regional District of Bulkley Nechako Burns Lake and Francois/Ootsa Lake directors also attended this presentation.
The presentation was an introduction of a new garbage bins known as FoodCycler, which will save food waste in landfills, green bins and backyard composts.
Hanlon stated that FoodCycler’s by-product [foodilizer] is a dry, sterile, odourless and nutrient-rich biomass with many beneficial uses and practical applications such as garden soil, backyard composters, tumbler or green cone nutrients, etc. He added that FoodCycler has two models, FC-30 [bigger] and Eco 5 [smaller]. The overall energy consumption of this device is 1.5-kilowatt for eight hours.
He added that the pilot project requires about 50 units of FoodCycler and a $5000 municipal investment from the Village of Burns Lake, to kick-start it.
FoodCycle Science is a Canadian company based out of Ottawa, ON, with a 100 per cent focus on food waste diversion solutions.
Michael Riis-Christianson, Regional District of Bulkley Nechako Burns Lake director, said that the smaller version of the technology is more convenient for small households. He pointed out that the bin has a filter and asked whether it is possible to throw compost garbage throughout the week and then operate it once without any odour in the house.
Hanlon said it is a self-contained and insulated unit that can be filled throughout the week. He said there wouldn’t be any odours if the lid remained closed. He recommends running the compost cycle when the bucket is half full, which would finish the process faster and sees no advantage in stockpiling the food waste for a whole week. “You would have shorter cycles if you’re doing less food waste throughout that time,” he said.
Clint Lambert, Regional District of Bulkley Nechako Francois/Ootsa Lake director, had concerns with the device’s run time and energy consumption rate. He asked whether the energy consumption rate would be 1.5-kilowatt per hour.
Hanlon said that the 1.5-kilowatt energy consumption will cover the whole cycle [eight hours]. He added that their smaller bin uses a little bit less electricity, but it all depends on what has been put in it. “If you put more bones and dense food scraps in there, it might take eight hours. But, if the cycle has mixtures of coffee grinds and smaller garbage, it might take four to six hours. So, that 1.5-kilowatt is the maximum for the whole eight-hour cycle,” he said.
Sheryl Worthing, Village of Burns Lake chief administrative officer, asked whether the device would make much noise when running the cycle.
Hanlon said that the noise from FoodCycler is comparable with a dishwasher; for example, he stated that the device will not cause noise to wake people up in the middle of the night.
Laina Helgesen, Village of Burns Lake deputy corporate officer, suggested council to do the pre-registration and said that other municipalities started the pilot project with the minimum 50 units of FoodCycler and later exceeded it. She added that the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako could also get involved with this pilot project and cover $100 for any of their residents.
Director Riis-Christianson was interested to kick-start the pilot project. He added that the regional district would discuss more on this in its board meeting, if council decides to implement it.
After the discussion, Mayor Henry Wiebe directed staff to implement the food cycle science food waste diversion pilot project for a minimum of 50 units of FoodCycler, and additional $3000 from the Local Government Climate Action Program reserve will be used to supplement the $2000 already allocated for the composting projects. Council agreed to it.