Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
Operating metals-recovery reference
Organizations Involved:
Metro Vancouver, BC Ministry of Environment, City of Burnaby and Covanta
Services / Equipment:
Design & Engineering, Feasibility Studies, Plant Efficiency Upgrades, Component Supply
After a waste-to-energy plant has recovered the energy, valuable metals can still leave the site in its ash. Metro Vancouver’s non-ferrous recycling upgrade shows how an existing facility can capture that remaining value—recovering aluminum and copper, increasing ferrous recovery and improving the material left for potential reuse.
Metro Vancouver’s published reporting identifies approximately 260 tonnes of non-ferrous metals per year and an additional 420 tonnes of ferrous metals per year from the added recovery systems. Together, that represents approximately 680 tonnes of additional annual metal recovery from material already passing through the facility.
For municipalities, asset owners and resource-recovery developers, the opportunity is compelling: develop another productive outlet from the waste stream and infrastructure already in place. Klean presents this operating reference to illustrate the commercial value of matching a targeted plant upgrade with the materials and markets it can serve.
Find the value still leaving with the ash
Burnaby’s waste-to-energy facility already recovered energy and used magnetic separation to recover ferrous metals. Its bottom ash still contained non-ferrous metals, including aluminum and copper, as well as ferrous material that the existing separation stage had missed.
These materials represented both a recovery opportunity and a residue-management challenge. Metals left in the ash lose their opportunity to return to manufacturing. The remaining mineral fraction also needs the right quality and an accepted destination before it can become a useful construction input.
The task was to improve recovery within an operating facility: integrate additional separation, handle the resulting material streams and connect recovered products with suitable downstream users. The investment case depended on the value and quality of those outputs alongside installation, operating and residue-management costs.
Add separation where the recoverable value remains
Metro Vancouver installed an eddy-current separator to recover non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and copper from bottom ash. A second magnetic separator increased ferrous-metal recovery. Together, the additions extended the facility’s ability to recover materials after combustion.
The two technologies address different fractions. Magnetic separation captures iron-bearing material; eddy-current separation recovers conductive non-ferrous metals. Combining them creates additional metal streams for recycling while reducing the metal content of the remaining ash.
Develop the outlets alongside the equipment
The commercial assessment extends from separation performance to the destination of each output. Recovered-metal quality, buyer specifications, transport and processing charges determine the value realized from metal sales. For the mineral fraction, characterization and an authorized use determine whether material can replace a purchased construction input or continues to require disposal.
This is where design, feasibility and plant-upgrade planning belong together. A recovery system must fit the site, process the actual ash and produce material that a downstream customer can use. Our relevant services connect these engineering and commercial questions when evaluating a proposed upgrade.
An additional recovery stage with measurable material output
Metro Vancouver reports annual recovery of approximately 260 tonnes of non-ferrous metals, primarily aluminum and copper, and 420 tonnes of additional ferrous metals from the added systems. The combined 680-tonne annual recovery makes the opportunity tangible: a targeted addition can extract useful material from a stream that has already undergone energy recovery and initial metal separation.
The mineral fraction also has a demonstrated route to beneficial use. Metro Vancouver reports that approximately 76,300 tonnes of bottom ash were used in constructing the United Boulevard Recycling and Waste Centre. This is a cumulative construction-project quantity. It demonstrates the value of securing a suitable outlet for processed ash, alongside recovering its metals.
The whole-facility economics show why every recovered stream matters
The facility’s 2018 financial results provide historical operating context. For 253,123 tonnes of incoming municipal solid waste, Metro Vancouver reported:
These are whole-facility figures; they establish the financial setting for further recovery investment. Tipping-fee revenue was accounted for separately. The return on a proposed metals upgrade must be evaluated from its own incremental recovery, sale proceeds, avoided disposal costs and capital and operating requirements.
The lasting lesson is that residue management can contribute to asset performance. Recoverable metals offer a sales outlet, and a suitable mineral-use destination can reduce the material sent for disposal. Developing both opportunities can improve the value recovered from each tonne of incoming waste.
1. An operating asset can contain an untapped materials business.
The added systems recover approximately 680 tonnes of metals annually from ash already generated by the facility.
2. The output market is part of the engineering decision.
Metal quality, buyer terms and an accepted ash outlet determine how recovery translates into commercial value.
3. The mineral fraction has value too.
Approximately 76,300 tonnes of bottom ash were used in a municipal construction project, demonstrating the scale of material that a suitable beneficial-use outlet can absorb.
These takeaways highlight selected lessons from this case study, not an exhaustive account. Klean brings deeper technical expertise and commercial insight to each project through tailored engagements.
If you operate a waste-to-energy facility or manage incinerator bottom ash, we can assess the material value remaining in your residue stream. The starting point is the ash itself: annual tonnage, metal content, existing recovery performance, disposal costs and potential buyers or beneficial-use destinations.
An existing-asset review can be scoped as paid feasibility and plant-upgrade work. For a proposed equipment package, the pathway begins with a paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ), progresses through a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) and then Front-End Engineering Design (FEED). The objective is a defined recovery opportunity with a practical process, credible outlets and a commercial basis for investment.
Discuss Your Bottom Ash and Metals Recovery Project with Klean »
ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This operating reference draws on our project page and Metro Vancouver’s published reporting. Recovery quantities, cumulative construction use and historical whole-facility financial results describe different aspects of the case. The technical and commercial basis for a new project is developed for its own material, site and product destinations.
This case illustrates pathways relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 9, 11 and 12 through infrastructure improvement, municipal resource recovery and the productive use of recovered materials.
