The physical legacy of one of Guelph’s least-successful forays into environmental stewardship will soon be gone.
The city is seeking tenders for the demolition of the SUBBOR (Super Blue Box Recycling Corp) building on Dunlop Drive.
The facility has largely sat idle since it was shut down in 2003. An engineering report in 2019 deemed the building to be unsafe.
The property could become part of the proposed large operations hub that was put forth by staff last fall.
Originally hailed as a possible cutting-edge facility that could help save waste from landfill and generate income from waste, the SUBBOR idea never fully materialized and wound up in court.
Bids are being accepted until July 7 and so far there are 25 registered parties. On June 18 interested parties were given a tour of the facility.
An engineering report in 2019 deemed the building to be unsafe.
The tender has December 2020 as the date for the project to be completed but recognizes COVID-19 may alter some timelines.
The blue buildings sit at the rear of the city’s Waste Resource Innovation Centre on Dunlop Drive but in the past has been most visible from Stone Road East.
Those buildings are now largely obscured by berms and growing vegetation. A series of signs warning trespassers to keep out are attached to a gate blocking a driveway that was a rear access to the facility.
SUBBOR was the brainchild of parent company Eastern Power Ltd., who approached the city of Guelph in 1997 about an innovative recycling technology they had developed.
It involved using steam to create recyclables, electricity and peat from unsorted garbage.
A three-year pilot project was agreed to and SUBBOR built the plant.
At the end of the three years, the city soured on the idea, feeling the technology had not proven itself to be practical on a larger scale.
SUBBOR sued the city for $32 million in damages and appealed when the decision went in the City of Guelph’s favour.
They eventually lost that appeal and ended up paying the city $2.5 million in legal costs.
