Project overview
Metro Vancouver’s Waste-to-Energy Facility has operated in Burnaby since 1988 and handles approximately 250,000 tonnes per year of garbage or about 25% of the region's waste. It is a mass-burn facility generating electricity from garbage and recovering about 5,000 tonnes of ferrous and 500 tonnes of non-ferrous metal annually.
Metro Vancouver is developing a Waste-to-Energy Facility District Energy system to supply heat and hot water to up to 30,000 homes in Vancouver, Burnaby and potentially New Westminster, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45,000 tonnes per year.
Project status
Metro Vancouver is in the early design phase of this project. Construction is expected to take place from 2024 to 2026, in multiple phases. The first phase will be the construction of an approximately 6 km heat transmission piping system from the Waste-to-Energy Facility to the River District community in Vancouver. The energy centre and piping systems will be sized to support future district energy systems in Burnaby and potentially other municipalities.
The proposed location of the energy centre and two potential routes for the piping system are shown in the map below.
About the Waste-to-Energy Facility
The Waste-to-Energy Facility has been responsible for the environmentally safe disposal of over 25% (around 250,000 tonnes per year) of the region’s waste, turning it into a valuable energy source.
Learn more about Metro Vancouver’s Waste-to-Energy Facility