Diverting waste from the landfill: Northwestern company opening composting facility over summer.

• Author: Myers, Ella
• Position: THUNDER BAY

Northwestern Ontario may see the opening of a new composting facility as soon as this summer.

Eco Depot Waste Diversion applied for approval from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) in March, and anticipates they'll be able to start operations at their Oliver Paipoonge facility, outside Thunder Bay, in the third financial quarter of 2016.

The average office worker produces a loaf of bread's worth of organic waste every day, and in northwestern Ontario, that waste typically goes straight to a landfill.

This concerns Celine Bourret, who is the operations manager at Eco Depot.

"Composting can be hasslefree," said Bourret. "We want this to be as commonplace in offices as recycling is now. We need to get there."

However, the facility, which would be able to process 30,000 tonnes of organic waste each year and start with nine employees, would be servicing a lot more than just offices.

"Everyone is a generator of organic waste," said Bourret. "Our model ... will allow us to collect organic waste from multiple waste streams, including residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional."

"Our goal is to service all schools, hospitals, grocers, restaurants, and residents," added president and CEO John Staal.

The facility won't just accept waste; it will transform it into something that can go straight back to...