A brand-new soil reuse facility constructed and operated by Calgary Aggregate Recycling (CAR), an Indigenous-owned company, is the first-of-its-kind in Canada and is helping to place Alberta at the leading edge of sustainable construction. By weight, contaminated soil is Alberta’s largest hazardous waste stream, with an estimated three million tonnes landfilled in the province annually. CAR’s new soil reuse facility will have the capacity to recycle 600,000 tonnes of excavated construction materials annually and reduce GHG emissions in Alberta by over 22,000 tonnes each year. The facility is a steppingstone for greater emissions reduction as Alberta begins to widely adopt this technology and build more facilities of its kind. ERA committed $8.8 million to the $17.6 million project that supports Alberta’s circular economy.
The plant and technology aligns with Alberta’s sustainability needs and priorities, focusing on material re-use, waste reduction, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and economic recovery – an exemplary example of the circular economy at work. ERA committed $8.8 million to the $17.6 million project through its $176 million Shovel Ready Challenge. In total, $126 million of Shovel Ready Challenge funding is sourced from Alberta’s industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund. The remaining $50 million was supported by the federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund (LCELF).