City begins shutdown of Central Composting Facility due to odour issues

Hamilton, ON – The City of Hamilton is beginning the process of shutting down its Central Composting Facility in response to odour issues, which have been escalating over the last two weeks. The City’s operating contractor and City staff have been analyzing the process to determine the cause of the odours and have been unable to identify them with certainty. As a result, the City has decided shutting down the facility is in the best interest of affected residents in the area.

To address the process area that is contributing the most odours, the City will be shipping compost material offsite starting immediately, which will take up to five days to complete. During this time, the odour issues may continue, however, shipping the material offsite should address the problem. As of Monday June 25, no new organic material is being accepted at the Central Composting Facility. The rest of the facility will be shut down and cleared out in an enclosed and controlled environment.

Waste Management staff will be continuing their investigation to identify the root cause of the issue and will not resume operations until they have been successfully addressed. The City will be communicating to residents how this will affect curb side collection, and will be providing updates as needed.

The City sincerely appreciates the patience of residents who live in the surrounding neighbourhoods and have experienced the worst of this situation. The City will not bring the facility back on line until it is certain of the source of the odours and that the appropriate control systems are in place to avoid a repeat of the last few weeks.