The report was put together after eight-meeting study on the management of solid waste.
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), Ottawa, Ontario, has welcomed the release of the Canadian House of Commons' Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development report, The Management of Municipal Solid Waste and Industrial Materials. says that the report highlights the importance of renewable fuels technology in solving environmental problems like waste management in Canada.
"This report confirms that our industry and the government share common goals for advancing clean technology and reducing waste," says Andrea Kent, CRFA’s president. "Advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol solve multiple environmental problems at once, diverting waste from our landfills and producing clean-burning fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This report highlights the important work renewable fuels producers are doing across Canada to develop and commercialize critical, breakthrough technologies."
CRFA also says it was pleased to have the opportunity to appear before the committee and supports the committee's recommendations for the federal government's continued support for the commercialization of new technologies that will improve waste management and the use of cellulosic fuel.
In the report’s conclusion, the authors note that in order to address this issue, there is “no one clear silver bullet of the best model” that would work for every municipality in every region of the country.
“Rather, there are numerous best practices to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover value from waste that have been adopted across the country. There are also technological innovations, both developed and on the horizon, that have the potential to extract ever more value from different types of waste and in different ways while at the same time reducing the amount of material ultimately sent to landfills.”
To help drive production and consumption of renewable fuels in Canada, the CRFA proposes exempting cellulosic biofuels from the current excise tax on fuel. Presently, the federal excise tax (FET) on gasoline is C$.10 cents per liter. As demonstrated with similar treatment of other commodities, the tax measure will encourage domestic production, retain cellulosic biofuels in Canada, and ensure economic and environmental benefits accrue locally.