Maple Reinders Group Ltd., today announced that the Harbour City Solutions (HCS) consortium – in which it has a 50% interest for design, construction and capital works – has been selected as the preferred proponent to build the Hamilton Biosolids Management project. The project is being delivered through a public-private partnership (PPP) using the design-build-finance-operate-maintain model, with a 30-year contract operations term.

The Hamilton Biosolids facility will treat all of the City’s biosolids processed by their wastewater treatment system using an advanced thermal drying process, the first of its level of quality and reliability in the province. The new facility will produce ‘Class A’ pellets which will be sold to the agricultural community as a slow release organic fertilizer, or to coal burning industrial facilities as a renewable fuel replacement for coal. This technology will also greatly reduce the number of transport trucks required to remove solids from the plant on a daily basis, greatly improving air quality in the area.

Reuben Scholtens, Maple Reinders’ Director of Infrastructure Development, states: “A large number of the civil projects that Maple Reinders has constructed in our 50-year history have been in the water and wastewater sector. As an established leader in the design, construction and commissioning of these types of treatment facilities, we welcome the growing popularity of the PPP model to deliver projects in this sector. The City of Hamilton’s leaders and their advisors were able to transfer risk from the municipality, while retaining cost certainty and maintaining ownership. They should be commended for making this project a reality for their citizens.”

The Hamilton Biosolids project is the third municipal biosolids-focused PPP project in Canada and the second to secure federal funding from PPP Canada. HCS plans to reach financial close in March of this year and immediately upon notification thereof will commence with design and construction.