The Role of Waste in the Energy Transition

Source: GHD | · WASTE TO RESOURCE ONTARIO · | June 4, 2024

Workshop Summary Report

On March 26, 2024 GHD and Waste to Resource Ontario (W2RO) brought together representatives from municipal governments, the provincial government, and the waste management and energy sectors for a crucial dialogue on waste and Ontario’s energy transition.

In the all-day workshop, we asked participants to think about how the waste industry should contribute to Ontario’s energy transition, how we should reduce greenhouse gasses, and what the future of waste in Ontario looks like.

The workshop began with a presentation on GHD’s energy transition study, SHOCKED, and why energy transition is important to the waste sector. Following the presentation, GHD led participants through a series of questions to explore predictions and perspectives on different facets of the issue, such as waste reduction, Energy from Waste (EFW), landfilling and organics processing.

Once they answered all the questions individually, participants were assigned to small groups of five to seven and asked to answer the same questions as a group. This allowed them to discuss each question and come to consensus on how to answer. Finally, participants were grouped into two large groups of 20 – 25 to discuss how they answered the questions in their smaller groups and what discussion topics emerged.

In the second half of the workshop, GHD presented the results of the three rounds of questions and the group discussed what they considered when forming their answers. In the final activity, participants were again assigned to small groups and asked to identify the three most important ways the waste sector can meaningfully contribute to the energy transition, and the actions that need to happen for each priority to have a meaningful impact.

The input provided during this workshop will be used to inform W2RO’s future advocacy, education and research activities related to the energy transition.