After sitting on a back burner since 2012, the $210 million e-waste project at Teck Trail Operations has officially been extinguished.
In a company letter to Montrose council, Community Relations Leader Catherine Adair, provided an update on the deferred No. 4 Furnace Project, which was designed to increase Teck’s capacity to recycle end-of-life electronic waste.
The decision to cancel was made following a review of market conditions, she explained.
“Trail has now decided not to move forward with the project as it is not currently economically viable due to the increasingly competitive global e-waste market.”
She notes recent projects at the Trail plant that are focused on environmental improvement, such as the Fugitive Dust Reduction Program and a new build that is currently under construction.
“A number of important investments in the ongoing sustainability and long-term future of Trail operations are underway or have been recently completed,” Adair said. “This includes the No. 2 Acid Plant and the Smelter Recycle Building. These projects help improve our environmental performance and support the sustainability in our region.”
The Trail smelter continue to focus on sustainable resource management, she added.
“We bring in approximately 1 million tonnes of raw materials each year as feed to our processes, with almost the entirety of these feeds turned into product (greater than 99 per cent) leaving almost no waste.”
The Trail site will continue to recycle numerous materials, such as CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) glass, as well as zinc alkaline and lead alkaline batteries.
In 2016, the plant recycled 19,400 tonnes of lead from lead battery products, 8,620 tonnes of CRT glass, and 339 tonnes of zinc alkaline batteries.