[GreenYes] Reuters: Waste Management gets okay for Quebec "bioreactor"

[DavidOrr@aol.com]

Waste Management gets okay for Quebec "bioreactor"

  
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Waste Management Inc. 

said Friday that its Canadian unit had received the go-ahead from the Quebec 
government to develop a "bioreactor" project near Montreal to convert solid 
waste into energy. 

In a statement, the No. 1 U.S. trash hauler said the bioreactor project -- 
which operates along the lines of a giant garden composter -- had the 
potential to generate eight megawatts of electricity, enough to power 
approximately 8,000 homes. 

The authorization was given by the Quebec Environment Department. 

The bioreactor project, which will be located at a Sainte-Sophie, Quebec, 
landfill site north of Montreal, will be operated by Intersan, a division of 
Houston-based Waste Management's subsidiary Canadian Waste Services Inc. 

Waste Management said the project was the first, large-scale bioreactor 
project in Canada and one of 10 bioreactor projects it currently has under 
development. 

"We believe that bioreactor technology provides an innovative approach to 
managing solid waste," A. Maurice Myers, chairman, president and chief 
executive of Waste Management said in a statement. 

"This project gives us the opportunity to provide a reliable, green power 
resource to communities and businesses in our area," said Hubert Bourque, 
vice-president of Canadian Waste Services and the Quebec bioreactor project 
manager. 

Waste Management said bioreactor technology accelerates the biological 
decomposition of food, paper and other organic wastes in a landfill by 
managing the moisture content in a landfill. The liquids create optimum 
conditions for micro-organisms to rapidly degrade solid waste, it said. 

"By using these techniques, waste capacity in a typical landfill can be 
increased by at least 15 to 30 percent, decreasing the need for new 
landfills," the company said, adding the waste mass could achieve 
environmental stability quicker. 

Waste Management's stock closed down 73 cents at $24.70 Friday on the New 
York Stock Exchange, below its 52-week high of $28.63 and above its 52-week 
low of $13.31. 

17:14 03-30-01

Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited.