Biosolids result from the treatment of wastewater which removes the solids (sludge) from the liquid effluent.  Canadians produce more than 660,000 metric tons of dry stabilized biosolids each year.  The annual cost of biosolids management is approximately 50% of the total operating cost of wastewater management.

CCME has established a Biosolids Task Group (BTG) which is developing a Canada-wide approach for the management of wastewater biosolids.

Work of the task group includes:

• Developing an inventory of emerging contaminants in Canadian biosolids.
• Reviewing current Canadian legislative frameworks for biosolids.
• Developing a calculator tool (BEAM) for determining greenhouse gas emissions from various biosolids management practices.