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ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

An administrative and maintenance building is located near the scale house at the main entrance to the site.

What functions are performed at the Administration Building?

• Contains office space for Fredericton Region Solid Waste management and administrative staff.
• Building includes a maintenance area where landfill equipment is serviced.
• Building serves as an entry point for site tours.
• Unique architectural features reflects the use of the baler building on site.

SCALE HOUSE

Situated at the entrance to the site the scalehouse serves as the control point for all vehicles arriving at the site.

What functions are performed at the scale house?

• All incoming commercial vehicles are weighed in for billing purposes.
• Staff check to see whether the vehicle loads are properly covered.
• Direction to site activities is provided to homeowners and infrequent users of the site.
• Loads containing unacceptable wastes are turned away.
• A computerized system relies on scale data to generate invoices as vehicles exit the site.
• For convenience a separate entry lane is provided for cars.
• This type of control prevents unauthorized dumping.

Interesting Facts

• On average approximately 250 vehicles enter the site daily.
• The site serves 120,000 residents of the region.

RECYCLING FACILITY

The Recycling Facility (commonly referred to as a MRF – Materials Recovery Facility) employs 22 people.

What happens to the recyclable material at the Recycling Facility?

• Trucks tip product onto the floor in the receiving area.
• Product loaded onto a conveyor belt that carries it to the sorting mezzanine.
• Sorted off the belt into different grades of product.
• Sorted product pushed onto a conveyor belt that carries it into the baler.
• Baled into bales weighing between 400kg and 700kg.
• Bales stored until shipping.
• Product shipped by transport trailer to various mills and facilities in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Maine.

Where does the recyclable material come from?

For the year 2012:

• 23.4% of all the product at the Recycling Facility came from the Recycling at Work program
• 32.5% of product came from the City of Fredericton’s Blue Box/Grey Box Program.
• 20.5% of product came from the Region-wide Blue Box/Grey Box Program.
• 11% of product came from the Recycling Facility Depot (Free drop-off).
• 6.8% of product came from the Oromocto Recycling Depot.
• 3.9% of product came from the Village of New Maryland’s Blue Box/Grey Box Program.
• 1% of product came from the Confidential Shredding Program.

BALING FACILITY

Waste disposal at the landfill is enhanced by compacting the incoming waste into bales inside a large baler building.

Why bale?

• Keeps truck traffic away from the waste disposal area of the landfill.
• Extend the life of the landfill by approximately 10 years.
• Significant reduction in litter at the landfill.

How does baling work?

• Large commercial vehicles drive into the baler building and empty their load.
• Bulky items (i.e. propane tanks) are removed before the waste is compacted.
• Waste is pushed onto a conveyor that feeds the baler unit.
• Waste is compacted into bales weighing 1,500 kgs.
• Specially designed vehicle hauls the bales to the landfill area.

Interesting Facts

• First baler for domestic waste in Atlantic Canada.
• Baler produces approximately 200 bales per day.

CAR CONVEYOR BELT

Access to the baler facility for homeowners and small commercial vehicles is provided at a designated area of the baler building.

Why is this special access necessary?

• Helps to control traffic at the baler facility .
• Provides a safe, convenient way to dispose of small loads.
• Staff are available to direct users to other areas for disposal of wood and metal wastes.
• Avoids the extra handling normally required with drop off dumpsters.

Interesting Fact

• Approximately 50 vehicles use this area daily.

WOOD WASTE

As part of the Commission’s waste diversion program, wood waste delivered to the site is stored in a designated area.

What are the benefits of diverting wood waste?

• Certain wastes such as building materials cause operating problems for the baler.
• Diverting these normally bulky materials will extend the life of the landfill.
• Used as cover material in landfill.

SCRAP METAL

As part of the Commission’s waste diversion program white goods and scrap metal delivered to the site are stockpiled for recycling.

What types of waste are accepted?

• White goods (i.e. stoves, fridges) and scrap metal.
• Fridges must have a sticker indicating CFCs have been removed (otherwise a $15+HST fee is charged for its removal).
• 267 tonnes of scrap metal was diverted in 2012.

Why recover metal wastes?

• It would be difficult to process these materials in the baler facility.
• Landfilling these wastes without compaction would take up a lot of valuable landfill space.
• Recovered metal provides additional revenue because of available markets.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION SITE

construction

Construction and Demolition Waste (C & D) arriving at the site is directed to a designated disposal area.

What environmental controls are in place for C & D waste?

• All C & D loads are inspected before being dumped.
• Loads containing non C & D waste will be assessed a $100 per tonne tipping fee.
• The C & D waste disposal area is covered weekly.

Why have a separate disposal area for C & D waste?

• Keeping C & D out of the landfill will extend its life.
• These materials are not harmful and therefore do not need to be disposed of in a containment landfill.

Interesting Fact

• Approximately 4500 tonnes of C & D waste are received at the site annually.

LANDFILL AREA

landfill

At the landfill area bales of waste that are transported from the baler building are stacked in cells as part of final disposal.

What controls are used to minimize environmental impacts?

• Waste is placed in cells approximately one hectare in size.
• The cells are lined to prevent the leachate from entering the groundwater.
• A series of perforated pipes are placed under the waste to collect leachate.
• The waste is covered daily with clean soil.
• When a cell is filled to capacity it is provided with a clay cover to prevent more leachate from forming.
• When the landfill is eventually closed a clay cover will be put in place.
• Surface water quality is monitored in the immediate vicinity of the landfill.
• Gas vents are provided to monitor landfill gases.
• Groundwater monitoring wells around the landfill are sampled regularly.

LEACHATE TREATMENT LAGOON

Leachate is the liquid waste formed when rain and snow melt drain through the waste deposits of landfills. At the Fredericton site the leachate is collected and piped to a biological treatment lagoon.

How is the leachate treated?

• Biological activity within the treatment lagoon breaks down the components of the leachate.
• A specially designed oxygen injection system supports biological activity.
• A floating barrier wall enhances treatment efficiency.
• Alarms warn operators of any problems with the treatment system.
• The treated leachate is pumped to the City of Fredericton for additional treatment.
• Extra air injection capacity is available for peak leachate loadings.

How is the groundwater system protected from leachate contamination?

• Geomembrane (plastic) and clay liners are installed under the waste disposal cells.
• Monitoring wells are sampled regularly to check for leachate.
• A network of perforated pipes under the waste is used to collect the leachate.

Interesting Facts

• Leachate stays in the lagoon for approximately 120 days.
• The lagoon will treat leachate for the next 50-70 years.