A potential project that had been in the planning stage since 2016 was quietly scrapped at last week's meeting of Swift Current city council.

Back in 2016, a market shift in cardboard meant that the city, which up to that point had been receiving money for any cardboard it collected, would instead have to pay to recycle it.

That sent the city on a quest to find alternative disposal methods, reaching out to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) to conduct a case study, which then led to a high-level feasibility study on the gasification of cardboard and paper to produce heat and electricity.

Not quite "burning" of cardboard, but not dissimilar.

The project moved forward into 2018 when the city and the SRC were approved for federal funding under the Low Carbon Economy Fund which would see 40% of the potential $7,655,000 cost for the project covered, which would leave the city on the hook for a little over $4.6 million.

With that funding, the city put out a request for proposals in December of 2020. They received four proposals back and found out that even at its most favourable, the city would still be on the hook for a 17-year payback or an estimated 2.1% rate of return over a 20-year lifespan of the project.

On top of that, the reports indicated that the use of cardboard and paper as a fuel feedstock has a lower heating value and higher ash content than they had originally anticipated in the feasibility study. Lower electrical production, lower heating values and higher operating costs.

In short, too much for too little.

Meanwhile, in the intervening time since the project was initially proposed in 2016, the market for paper and cardboard has improved; and the city has been able to secure a 10-year contract for proper disposal as well as (if necessary) confirming that they have the landfill capacity at the West Landfill of over 100 years.

The total money spent on the project to this point is $96,500. The cancellation of the project would see that money funded through the Solid Waste Utility's operating budget.