A local businessman is turning a hefty profit while helping to save the environment - and he's doing it with other people's garbage.
The Triack Resources recycling plant processes wood waste into a viable energy source, and is already helping with energy demanding companies like Howe Sound Pulp and Paper.
Squamish Climate Action Network members learned about local wood waste recycling while touring through the temporary Triack site no the south side of the Mamquam Blind Channel Friday (Nov. 13).
Owner Dave McRae said Triack accepts all sorts of materials including wood waste like tree branches, or old lumber as well as asphalt shingles and a few other materials. The wood waste is broken down into smaller pieces and sent through a grinder, which breaks the wood bits down into the requested size.
Some wood waste is recycled into mulch, which McRae said local landscapers are eager to purchase, while other wood waste is broken up into chips or pellets and used to stoke boiler fires in nearby pulp mills.
"I know that our business has a valuable net gain to the community," said the third generation Squamish resident.
The tour and a brief seminar was organized by Squamish CAN energy and green building group co-ordinator Eric Andersen for anyone who wanted to learn more about viable renewable energy sources available locally.
"Wood biomass energy is interesting to Squamish CAN as one of the renewable energy forms that we're interested to promote - the others being wind, geothermal and solar," he said. "Squamish is a forest landscape, and wood biomass is not only an obvious option but one that has the greatest potential among the renewable [resources] for economic development and climate change action plans."
Squamish CAN member Mark Shepherd said he was thrilled to see Triack recycling what is essentially other people's garbage.
"I'd say clearly this is the future. It's a no-brainer."
According to Andersen, the wood biomass industry can create more jobs than other renewable resource industries because it takes a lot more people to harvest wood biomass than it does to gather solar power.
Once a solar panel is built and installed practically no additional labour goes into extrapolating the resource, while wood biomass is significantly more labour intensive.
Since harvesting wood biomass energy is labour intensive, some critics argue the environment suffers from all of the machinery used in the process.
Andersen dispels the belief by explaining wood biomass yields very high returns of energy so the gas, or diesel it takes to make one ton of wood biomass is approximately only 97 per cent of what the wood waste can produce in terms of fuel.
Relying on wood biomass as a renewable resource can not only create more jobs but also create and maintain healthier forests. Andersen said that strategically thinning a forest ensures the healthy growth of plenty of carbon dioxide reducing trees and since Squamish is located in a densely forested valley, that could have a huge impact on our local air quality.
"How we manage our forest is the biggest challenge and opportunity for us in our particular valley in terms of climate change. What we want is a sustainable active forest management and the degree to which we succeed or fail in that has way bigger significant than any other measure we can do," he said.
The wood waste Triack recycles is diverted from the local landfill, which McRae says is full of materials that could be recycled.
"All I want is for the community to become aware of the fact that more than half of what goes into the landfill doesn't have to go into the landfill."
McRae said recyclables are pilling up at the landfill because the District of Squamish hasn't told residents to stop throwing wood waste into the garbage.
"It's a cash cow for the district because they charge $80 a ton to run the landfill but they only pay the contractor about $55 a ton. So everything they bury in the landfill is a cash cow. It's a cash grab."
McRae said he just wants everyone to recycle, regardless of whether they recycle with Triack or not.
"I do want to work with the District of Squamish for a good proper resolution for all. I'm not out to make enemies or to try and set a monopoly or any of that. Bottom line is I want the district to act responsibly and then it's good for everybody."
