Bio-Reactor Turning trash into Energy

[Guest guest]

High-tech landfill opens

by Catherine Thompson

The Chesterville Record

October 10, 2001

 

 

MOOSE CREEK - André Laflèche, the founder of Laflèche Environmental has

seen the realization of a youthful dream, which started during the early

1970's.

In 1973, Laflèche saw documentary about waste problems in Europe and

worrying that Canada would see similar problems, started research on how

to develop a high tech, environmentally sound solution to the problem of

waste disposal.

 

Last Friday afternoon nearly 30 years later, Laflèche celebrated the

official opening of Laflèche Environmental, a state-of-the art landfill

site.

 

During the 1980's, Laflèche attended meetings in Eastern Ontario, where

municipalities were working on waste management master plans, and he

brought forward his ideas for a " refuse derived fuel facility "

accopanied by landfill and greenhouses. But in the late 1980's, the

Ontario government put a moratorium on incinerators, and Laflèche turned

his attention to developing a bio reactor.

In 1987, he bought 140 acres on a site off Highway 138, which is a

former peat bog with a base of impermeable clay. In 1990, he optioned

350 adjacent acres and partnered with Browning Ferris Industries,

working as a consultant for BFI.

 

In 1996, Laflèche bought the landfill site from BFI, who were

considering selling the Ottawa collection company, and the following

year, brought in new partners, accountant Jean-Marie Laflèche and

engineer Martin Zimmer.

 

The partners launched Laflèche Environmental in 1997 and received a

certificate of approval in 1999, starting construction in June 2000.

Since then, other companies have joined, including Horizon Environment

of Quebec and Sita, a multi-national company in Paris, France.

The site has been up and operating and receiving 40,000 tonnes of waste

from commercial clients and several municipalities since January, 2001.

 

Laflèche has approached many Eastern Ontano municipalities for their

business and this week, North Stormont Township is working on a

fee-for-disposal agreement with the company.

Casselman, Nation and North Glengarry have signed contracts with the

company and the town of Prescott, and East Hawkesbury have a 10-year

contracts. Laflèche also has a contract with Waste Services

Incorporated, which has a contract with the City of Brockville.

 

The Bio-Reactor combines the low-cost disposal aspects of a landfill

site with biological and engineering systems to safely dispose household

and commercial non-hazardous waste, return available recyclables and

eventually generate heat for greenhouses and enough electricity to power

1,000 homes.

The fill area is built on impermeable clay, which is divided into cells,

and each is underlined by a drainage system to recapture the liquid

waste or leachate which goes into a sump, a pit or well for superfluous

water on the side of the cell.

 

Leachate is pumped into a lagoon, treated on site and some leachate is

pumped back into the cells to aid decomposition.

 

Landfill gas will also be recovered to produce energy, and the company

predicts that sufficient power will be produced for 1,000 homes for 50

years.

 

Heat and carbon dioxide, the two by-products created in the generation

of electricity from landfill gases will be used to warm greenhouses and

provide plants with rich carbon dioxide atmosphere for plant growth.

 

The fill area is 66 hectares in a total landfil area of 2l0 hectares,

with enough room for expansion and a buffer area. Laflèche's certificate

of approval is for 200,000 tonnes of waste annually, giving the site a

minimum 40-year lifespan.

 

There are plans to set up a commercial waste disposal pad in 2002, and a

drop-off area for recyclables and waste for the general public.

 

Ten million dollars of private money has been invested in the site, and

another $100 million is expected.

The official opening was attended by many local dignitaries, federal and

provincial elected representatives and ministry representatives,

including Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Brian Coburn.

 

The minister cited additional benefits from the bioreactor process such

as the generation of electricity and the conversion of waste to useful

commodities. He praised Laflèche for his innovative ideas in developing

a leading edge technology which will reinforce the effects of the

Nutrient Management Bill, in safeguarding the quality of water.

 

- -- -- ---

 

 

Biosolids up Creek?

by Tom Van Dusen

The ottawa Sun

July 11, 2002

 

MOOSE CREEK - There's a strange stillness about Andre Lafleche's waste

disposal site 50 km east of Ottawa, but you can't quite put your finger

on it.

 

Lafleche helps out: " There are no seagulls, " the developer of the

500-acre site points out proudly.

That's right! At other garbage dumps, squawking gulls flock by the

hundreds in anticipation of the banquet laid out before them. Here,

there's nary a gull.

 

" We make it very uninviting for them, " Lafleche explains, describing his

advanced management techniques which leave few tempting morsels exposed.

Any gulls which do show up for a peek at the Lafleche operation are

scared off by attendants using special devices.

 

Oh, and don't refer to the Lafleche site as a dump. It's the innovative

" Eastern Ontario Bio-Reactor " which uses environmentally friendly

technology to break down refuse, extracting methane gas for future

electricity generation and naturally processing leachate into clear,

odourless harmless water.

 

Biosolids overload

The Lafleche operation is being positioned as the solution to Ottawa's

biosolids overload. Lafleche sent an unsolicited proposal to the city

and, as a result, has been invited to address the Environmental Services

Committee July 23.

 

" Our site can handle more than half of Ottawa's biosolids if we were to

arrive at an agreement with the city to be part of its greater waste

management plans, " Lafleche said.

 

" Lafleche Environmental's objective is to create the world's most benign

waste disposal facility. "

Part of that process is investing in leading technology and partnering

with universities to " expand the boundaries of environmental science and

practice. "

 

Two months ago, Ottawa wound up with way too much human waste biosolids

on its hands after council voted to terminate the practice of spreading

half of the output of its sewage treatment centre on farm fields. The

other half had always been landfilled.

 

Obvious answer

In imposing the ban, council was told by its director of utility

services that increased tonnage would severely limit capacity at the

city's Trail Rd. disposal site. Council decided to look at other options

for disposing of the excess; Lafleche says the obvious answer is his

Eastern Ontario Bio-Reactor.

With an agreement to treat 100,000 tonnes of Ottawa waste, Lafleche

would be in a position to accept over 20,000 tonnes of biosolids,

approximately half of the amount the city will now have to ship to Trail

Rd. or elsewhere.

 

Lafleche explained that his bioreactor process - which he developed with

various partners over many years at a cost of about $10 million - speeds

up normal biological breakdown of materials from about 50 years in a

traditional landfill, to 15-20 years.

Another part of the Lafleche process is mining the site for soil

recovery and recyclables. A composting facility will be added next year.

Among ongoing research projects is one involving the use of shredded

used tires instead of crushed stone in filtration. Lafleche said he'll

eventually grind and use a million tires a year.

 

" The company is developing leading biological and engineering systems to

provide long-term solutions to society's concerns for treating

commercial and household wastes. "

The Lafleche site has an 8 million-tonne capacity and a permit to accept

200,000 tonnes of waste a year, including a self-imposed limit of 12%

biosolids. Charging an average $46 per tonne, it's already receiving

75,000 tonnes a year from several communities under extended contracts

including Prescott, Brockville, East Hawkesbury, Casselman, North

Stormont, North Glengarry and Nation Twp.

 

Eastern Bio-Reactor operator Andre Lafleche shows clear leachate at his

Moose Creek operation.

 

- -- - ---

 

Is Bio-Reach biosolids solution?

Lafleche pitching Moose Creek site for Ottawa disposal

by Tom Van Dusen

AgriNews Staff Writer

July 2002

 

 

 

 

Described by its developer as 'one of the best kept secrets in the

Ottawa area', the Lafleche Environmental Inc. futuristic waste disposal

site near Moose Creek is being positioned as the solution to the city's

biosolids overload.

 

'Our site can handle more than half of Ottawa's biosolids waste if we

were to arrive at an agreement with the city to be part of its greater

waste management plans,' said owner/operator Andre Lafleche whose

ultimate goal is far from modest.

 

'Lafleche Environmental's objective is to create the world's most benign

waste disposal facility.' Part of that process is investing in leading

technology and partnering with universities to 'expand the boundaries of

environmental science and practice.'

 

Lafleche told The AgriNews he sent an unsolicited proposal to the city

and as a result has been invited to address the Environmental Services

Committee July 23.

 

Two months ago, Ottawa wound up with way too much human waste biosolids

on its hands after council voted to terminate the practice of spreading

half of the output of its sewage treatment centre on farm fields within

city limits. The other half had always been landfilled.

 

In imposing the ban, council was told by its director of utility

services that increased tonnage would severely limit capacity at the

city's Trail Rd. disposal site. Council decided to look at other options

for disposing of the excess; Lafleche says the obvious answer is in his

'Eastern Ontario Bio-Reactor'.

With an agreement to treat 100,000 tonnes of Ottawa waste, Lafleche

would be in a position to accept over 20,000 tonnes of biosolids,

approximately half of the amount the city will now have to ship to Trail

Rd. or elsewhere.'

 

The entrepreneur says his 500-acre site 30 minutes east of the city -

where he also extracts peat - is ideally situated to take advantage of

the Moose Creek bog's clay soils to create a waste disposal process that

'protects and replenishes the environment.'

 

It's much more than a dump, Lafleche says. It's a unique bio-reactor

designed to accelerate decaying of waste while maximizing the collection

of energy from the decomposition process; it treats all waste on-site,

including its own leachate liquid.

 

Lafleche explained that his bio-reactor speeds up normal biological

breakdown of materials from about 50 years in a traditional landfill

site, to 15-20 years. It also captures and gathers methane gas for

generating electricity and will provide sufficient power for at least

1,000 homes.

 

Another part of the Lafleche process is mining the site for soil

recovery and recyclables. A composting facility will be added to the

site next year.

 

'The company is developing leading biological and engineering systems to

provide long-term solutions to society's concerns for treating

commercial and household wastes.'

 

The Lafleche site has an 8 million-tonne capacity and a permit to accept

200,000 tonnes of waste a year, including a self-imposed limit of 12 per

cent biosolids. Charging an average $46-per tonne, it's already

receiving 75,000 tonnes a year from several communities under extended

contracts including Prescott, Brockville, East Hawkesbury, Casselman,

North Stormont, North Glengarry and Nation Township.

 

'Our site is growing and will provide eastern Ontario communities with

an important, state-of-the-art facility to treat their waste products,'

Lafleche said. 'We would look forward to a partnership with the City of

Ottawa to ensure it has the guarantee of long-term, safe and

environmentally sensitive treatment of its waste... with a company in

its own backyard.'

- -- - --

 

BioReactor

Laflèche Environmental's BioReactor puts waste to work

 

 

By combining the natural containment properties of clay with

cutting-edge technology and a strong vision of a cleaner, more

sustainable future, Laflèche Environmental's BioReactor is changing the

way we think about waste.

 

The premise of the state-of-the-art landfill site known as the

BioReactor is to view waste as a valuable asset. Proceeding from that

premise, the BioReactor is designed to contain all waste - and waste

water - on site, and to treat the waste to ensure it continues to

provide benefits to society for decades to come.

 

When waste arrives at Laflèche Environmental, it is laid inside of an

impermeable, natural clay bowl that is lined with high-tech fabric and

drainage stone. As the waste deteriorates, the resulting wastewater,

known as leachate, is contained by the clay and lining and flows into a

large sump in the middle of the bowl.

 

The leachate is then separated into two streams. One part is

re-circulated into the waste bed from which it came. The rest is pumped

from the sump into a complex treatment system.

Accelerating decomposition

 

Re-circulating the leachate encourages an accelerated anaerobic reaction

within the waste. Microbes, the microscopic " bugs " that break down the

waste, act much faster in an anaerobic environment. By re-circulating

the leachate, the BioReactor can accelerate the decomposition of waste

by as much as 15 - 20 years.

 

This means that waste can break down nearly three times as quickly in

the BioReactor as in a traditional landfill, where decomposition takes

an average of 50 years.

Reaping the benefits

 

Once a cell, or section, of the BioReactor is filled with waste, it is

covered with a soil cap. As the waste decomposes, methane gas is created

and held under the cap. When it is present in sufficient quantities, the

methane can be captured and used to generate electricity - and not just

a little electricity, either.

 

Over its lifetime, we believe the BioReactor will produce enough methane

to power at least 1,000 homes for more than 50 years. In addition to its

environmental value, this makes the BioReactor a tremendous economic

asset for the area.

 

We expect to being harvesting methane in fall of 2006.

Long-term thinking

 

The long-term plan for the BioReactor is to further capture heat and

carbon dioxide, the two byproducts created in the generation of

electricity from methane. They will be used to warm greenhouses erected

on the site and to provide them with an enriched carbon dioxide

atmosphere to enhance plant growth.

 

Once the anaerobic cycle is complete, it may also be possible to recover

soil and recyclables. This will empty out the BioReactor's cells,

leaving them available to take in fresh waste.

 

By managing the BioReactor in this way, we will be able to continue the

cycle of putting waste to work for many decades - perhaps for as much as

100 years.

 

Laflèche Environmental has conducted research with two universities to

study the sustainability of using tire shreds to replace stones in the

BioReactor's drainage layer. With the successful completion of the

study, Laflèche Environmental has been fully sanctioned by the Ministry

of the Environment, and holds a Certificate of Approval allowing for the

processing of 3,500,000 tires per year. This represents more than one

quarter of all scrap tires generated in Ontario annually and makes us

the largest processing facility in the province. This project will allow

us to conserve a huge amount of stone - approximately 15,000 tons per

year - and further reduce our environmental footprint.

 

Click here to see the BioReactor in Action.

http://www.laflecheenvironmental.com/bio_flash.htm

- -- -- -

 

An unwavering dedication to a more sustainable tomorrow

 

 

Few people can say that television helped changed their life - let alone

helped change the world. Yet for André Laflèche, seeing a documentary on

television in 1973 about the problems Europe was facing with its garbage

was the singular catalyst for a remarkable environmental achievement.

 

The televised documentary that Mr. Laflèche saw right before his eyes

led him to develop a sustainable legacy right under his feet: the

Laflèche Environmental BioReactor.

 

While Mr. Laflèche's vision began incubating that day in 1973, it wasn't

until the 1980s arrived that he was able to put his ideas into action.

Coming forth as a concerned citizen, he presented his ideas for

sustainable waste management strategies to be integrated into a

municipal waste management master plan.

 

His ideas were met with support from the municipalities, but no one was

willing to take the ball and run with it. André did more than continue

to promote his vision; in 1987 he bought a parcel of land in Moose Creek

that would be the site for his revolutionary ideas.

 

Realizing after a few years that he lacked the resources necessary to

complete the project, in 1991 Mr. Laflèche sold his project to BFI, one

of North America's largest full-service waste management companies. In

1996, however, BFI was going through several major project cutbacks, and

decided to shelve the Moose Creek project. [sic]

 

But André Laflèche believed strongly in his vision, and so he bought

back the land in 1996. Martin Zimmer, a civil engineer with 20+ years of

experience in waste management, joined André in 1997, as did Jean-Marie

Laflèche, a Chartered Accountant who ran his own accounting firm for

almost 20 years.

 

With this vital expertise in place, André and his team at Laflèche

Environmental proceeded to complete the project. A certificate of

approval was received in 1999, construction began in June of 2000, and

the Laflèche Environmental BioReactor received its first shipment of

waste in January 2001.

 

Today, it receives waste not only from local municipalities, but also

commercial waste from Toronto, Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, and the St.

Lawrence corridor.

 

The Laflèche Environmental BioReactor has come a long way since it began

being conceived back in 1973. While its history as a fully functioning

waste management facility does not go back very far, its future - and

our collective future - looks bright for many years to come.

 

André Laflèche

President

andre@laflècheenvironmental.com

 

Raised in Casselman, Ontario (close to present day site of the Laflèche

Environmental BioReactor), André Laflèche trained in a number of

disciplines and gained experience in a variety of industries before

founding Laflèche Environmental.

 

Originally apprenticed as a cheese maker, André also worked as a miner

before moving on to work in construction, building roads, dams and other

infrastructure projects. He then founded a series of businesses of his

own. These included a farm, a paving company, and Calco Soils, which

specialized in peat and topsoil production, and is now owned by André's

daughters and nephew. At the same time, André was working with BFI to

supervise their Lachenaie landfill near Montréal and to promote

development of a landfill site at Moose Creek - a project that he had

sold to BFI in 1990.

 

The Moose Creek site would eventually become the home of the Laflèche

Environmental BioReactor, a project that would require all of André's

experience, knowledge and vision to realize.

 

André is well known for his uncanny ability to see opportunities - both

for profit and for environmental benefit. This quality, coupled with a

willingness to invest in new ventures and a gift for figuring out new

solutions to old problems, have made André one of the true leaders in

the waste management industry.

 

As president of Laflèche Environmental, André is responsible for all

aspects of the business, but focuses in particular on community

involvement and relations, and on developing partnerships with other

companies that offer compatible and complementary expertise in the field

of waste management. He is also in charge of the company's long-term

planning and strategic direction - a position in which his capacity for

seeing and seizing opportunities comes in particularly handy.

 

André says that his greatest motivations are his family and community.

" Taking an active role in promoting environmental sustainability is

essential to helping ensure the health and wellbeing of my children and

grandchildren - and their children - in the future. " He continues, " What

we see today is a lot of waste, and it can't continue. We have to find

new ways to build a cleaner, better environment for our children. Doing

that means working together - forming new partnerships, relationships

and friendships to improve conditions, both economic and environmental.

With profit comes a responsibility to do the right thing. We need people

who are willing to try new things, and think beyond the bottom line. "

 

 

 

Contact

 

 

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please don't hesitate

to contact us at the addresses below.

 

Laflèche Environmental, Inc.

17125 Laflèche Road

Moose Creek, Ontario

K0C 1W0

 

Tel: (613) 538-2776

Fax: (613) 538-2779

Email

 

You can write directly to any of Laflèche Environmental's key personnel

by clicking on the email addresses below.

 

André Laflèche, President

andre@laflècheenvironmental.com