Ground has been broken on North America’s first closed-loop waste management system in Surrey, B.C., with construction to begin this spring.

The project is located in Surrey’s Port Kells industrial area. It will convert the City’s kitchen and yard waste collected at curbside, along with commercial waste from across the region, into renewable natural gas.

The facility will be designed to receive and process 115,000 tonnes of organic waste annually. When completed, the facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada with a capacity to process 100 percent of the City’s organic waste over the 25-year contract term, along with commercial organic waste.

The facility is a public-private partnership (P3), with the government of Canada contributing up to 25 percent of the capital costs through its P3 Canada Fund.

“The Surrey organics biofuels processing facility will deliver a long-term, modern approach to solid waste management that is environmentally responsible and safe for all surrounding communities. Canada needs to invest in modern and green infrastructure projects like these to be a world leader today and in the future, and public-private partnerships can help deliver these projects on time and on budget,” PPP Canada CEO John McBride said.

The facility is expected to be operational by 2017.