Recycling garbage from the past: Blackstock landfill mining project

Landfill mining is an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and leachate impacts on groundwater quality, divert material not previously separated for recycling, recover energy from reclaimed waste, and eliminate the need for long-term groundwater monitoring.

Durham began landfill mining activity in October 2018 at the closed Blackstock landfill site in the Township of Scugog. 

Waste was excavated and placed into a rotating trommel screen to mechanically separate waste from soil. Landfilled scrap metal and concrete was sorted and set aside for recycling. Combustible waste was transported to the Durham York Energy Centre (DYEC) for energy recovery. 

A total of 4,796 tonnes of waste was excavated from the site: 2,849 tonnes of combustible waste was processed at the DYEC and 1,947 tones of non-combustible waste was sent to the Twin Creeks Landfill in Ontario for disposal.

Concrete and scrap metal picked from the excavated recyclables and from the demolition of the old transfer station building at the site totalled 257.88 tonnes: 160 tonnes of concrete and 97.88 tonnes of scrap metal was recycled. Final grading will be completed this year, to bring the site back to original condition. This innovative project will serve as a pilot for future remediation plans at the Region’s six other closed landfill sites.