Award-Winning Sudbury Biosolids Management Facility to Resolve Long-Standing Environmental Issues and Save Money: Best PPP in Class

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP) has announced that Sudbury's Biosolids Management Facility won the 2013 Chuck Wills Award, one of the organization's National Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships. The award is presented to outstanding municipal P3 projects in memory of the former CAO of the City of Windsor, who was a tireless supporter of P3 and a CCPPP Board member.

This is the first P3 for the City of Greater Sudbury and the first P3 biosolids project in Canada. Its integration of small and medium-sized partners serves as a model for others. The project is being developed under a design, build, finance, operate and maintain (DBFOM) agreement with N-Viro Systems Canada LP, which includes a two-year design and construction period and a 20-year operating period.

The new facility provides an environmentally sustainable solution for the management of Greater Sudbury's sewage sludge. It will generate a value-added product, NRich®, which will be sold for use in many industries, including mine reclamation around Sudbury. After 30 years of disposing of activated sewage sludge in Vale's tailing ponds, with the attendant environmental risks and foul odours, Sudbury is now leading the way in community sustainability.

The project, with a construction price of $63.1 million and a total cost to the City over the 20-year life of the project of $149.2 million net present value (NPV), will generate value for money of $11.1 million. It is leveraging financing from PPP Canada of 25 per cent of eligible costs, to a maximum of $11 million.

"I'm delighted that Sudbury's inaugural P3 project is being recognized with the Chuck Wills Award" said Mark Romoff, President and CEO, CCPPP. "The project provides a creative solution for a mid-sized city with limited access to capital, and it has generated learning that can be applied to smaller-scale infrastructure projects using smaller partners across Canada. This is a great leadership contribution to the national scene, as the need for municipal infrastructure grows everywhere."

Back to Canadian Water and Wastewater Association eBulletin