Inspired by Sweden's work to become carbon-neutral by 2045, environmental advocacy groups like Ecology North are investigating the feasibility and carbon footprints of "waste to energy" systems.
Though new green tech starts off expensive, it is made affordable as more people adopt it, said Craig Scott, executive director of Ecology North.
"What the carbon pricing does is it creates the economic incentives for these technologies to come forward," said Scott.
Carbon pricing could make waste to energy an economic benefit and potential path to carbon-neutrality for Northern communities, said Scott.
All NWT communities, with the exception of Yellowknife, dispose most of their waste directly to a landfill, states the GNWT's Waste Resource Management Strategy.
In the City of Yellowknife, the volume of waste produced is not adequate to support a large-scale waste to energy project, said Richard McIntosh, communications officer for the City of Yellowknife in an email.
"We are aware that the technology in the waste to energy sector is constantly improving and because of this we try to stay knowledgeable on any new products or processes that become available that may be appropriate to our situation," McIntosh said.
In remote communities where waste is stranded in local landfills, there is potential to turn trash into energy, said William Gagnon, green buildings and environmental advocacy program specialist at Ecology North.
The machines themselves can be as small as "a very big dishwasher," he said.
"We want to redefine what is possible in the North for energy, carbon emissions and water management," said Gagnon. "Remote communities are running diesel generators. You need to truck in this diesel. What if instead of burning diesel, we could use waste to produce energy?"
Waste-to-energy has been previously stigmatized as dirty because it is mistakenly associated with incinerators, he said, adding that the technologies for waste to energy are getting cleaner.
"What we're increasingly aware of is that waste has a lot of potential for energy. Waste is not just waste, it's a resource."
Buried waste releases carbon emissions as it decomposes, said Gagnon.
"When you really consider the whole spectrum it's better to produce energy out of waste than to landfill it," he said.
Swedish waste management makes energy products out of 99 per cent of its waste. The leftover one per cent is "char" — the byproduct of burning organic materials like trees or plants without oxygen.
The byproduct can hold vitamins and minerals, as a way to sequester carbon into fields or forests to be "carbon negative," said Gagnon.
In a presentation to Yellowknife City Council on Feb. 26, the department of public works and engineering said it would like to see waste to energy projects considered in the GNWT's waste resource management strategy.
Waste to energy projects convert trash into energy, without using incineration.
"Given the high costs associated with generating energy, operation of landfills, construction of landfills and closing out landfills ... waste to energy projects would be a natural fit for our environment in the NWT," stated the presentation.
Waste to energy projects won't eliminate the need for landfills, but will "vastly extend the life of a landfill," the memo states.
Waste to energy projects are listed as potential projects for the city to keep in its back pocket as new technologies emerge.
In its waste management strategy, the city still prioritizes waste prevention.
A proposed investment by the city in waste to energy projects between 2020 and 2025 would cost between $1.5-to $ 3-million depending on carbon pricing schemes. The projects were included in the city's energy strategy "in hopes that future technological advances will make waste to energy more viable," said McIntosh.
A final report and waste audit will be presented to council by the firm Sonnerva, to "provide recommendations as to where the City should be focusing (its) waste diversion efforts including the feasibility of any potential waste to energy projects," said McIntosh.