The Environmental Research & Education Foundation of Canada (EREF-CA) Canadian Steering Committee has identified a high priority research topic in the area of managing the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) and has issued a request for pre-proposals (RFP) on the topic to support the long-term needs and strategic direction of the solid waste industry in Canada.
This request supports on-going work that summarizes how many organics processing facilities exist, tonnage managed, what kinds of organics are managed and how many organics collection programs exist to serve the Canadian populace.
Pre-proposals related primarily to other non-MSW organics (e.g. agriculture biomass, manure, etc.) will not be considered.
Research Focus Areas
Submissions of scientific research pre-proposals related to the organics management are expected to cover the following areas:
- Cost/Economics of Organics Management
- Identification of costs to manage a source separated organics program
- Facility costs, such as:
- Tipping fees (e.g. by feedstock type, gate rate, average annual rate)
- Operation/processing (per incoming mass/volume)
- Capital expense
- Value of products sold (e.g. compost, electricity, biogas) and cost of residuals disposal
- Technologies used/types of equipment used at facility as well as emerging technologies
- Primary end markets (e.g. residential, agriculture, municipal, etc.) and developing markets
- Volume/mass of products sold
- Volume/mass of residuals created
- Analysis of cost of facility operation relative and needed feedstock volumes to maintain financial viability
- Relative Contributions of Organics from Residential and Industrial/Commercial/Institutional Sources
- Quantification organics generated from different societal sectors
- Estimate of what types of organic wastes (i.e. composition) are generated from different sources
- Assessment of feedstock quality/contamination levels
- Sustainability Impacts and Carbon Footprint
- Assessment of existing life cycle inventory data and identification of any gaps or poor quality information
- Aggregation/development of improved LCI data from existing sources
- Quantification of sustainability impacts, including but not limited to energy use, carbon emissions/offsets, etc.
- Comparison of sustainability impacts from composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) to other organic waste disposal strategies (e.g. landfill with and without beneficial use of landfill gas)
- Evaluation of the influence of facility location on sustainability impacts, such as:
- Co-location of organics management facilities at landfills, wastewater treatment plants, etc.
- Influence of transport distance/method from point of generation to processing facility and from the facility to the end user
- Storage method and length of time stored until processing
Pre-proposals submitted in response to this RFP should consider the focus areas noted herein. The amount requested should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed, but typically a range of $15,000 to over $300,000 CAN is expected. Typical project durations are between 1 to 2 years.
Submission Instructions and Deadline
The pre-proposal template must be used for all submissions and is available online. Pre-proposal submissions are limited to two submissions per primary Principal Investigator (PI), however a PI may be on multiple pre-proposals if it is demonstrated that it will not affect his or her ability to fulfill the scope of work in the primary investigation.
Submissions must include the project duration and budget. If invited to submit a full proposal, the budget cannot exceed the amount provided in the pre-proposal. EREF will not pay indirect/overhead costs in excess of 25%. Cost sharing is permitted but not required.
Pre-proposals will be accepted online starting 15 calendar days prior to the deadline and up to the close of business (5:00 p.m. eastern time) on February 10, 2020. Pre-proposals must be received during this window to be considered. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Review Process
All pre-proposals received are screened by EREF staff. Shortlisted pre-proposals will be reviewed and discussed by the EREF-CA’s Canadian Steering Committee. Full proposals will be invited for submission approximately 2 – 4 weeks after the pre-proposal submission deadline and primary investigators will be allowed to submit a full proposal will be given approximately 45 calendar days to prepare their submission.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions regarding this RFP should be directed to proposals@erefdn.org and the subject line should clearly indicate the question relates to the “EREF-Canada Organics RFP”.
This information is available online here.