PEICharlottetown is getting a new waste processing plant that will use less energy to operate and take in more trash, from right across Prince Edward Island.Plant will take 90 per cent of P.E.I.’s black bin waste to use for energy, says Enwave CEORyan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Sep 10, 2025 7:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoCharlottetown is getting a new waste processing plantA new waste processing plant that will take in more trash, and use less energy to operate, will be built in P.E.I.’s capital city. Enwave says the new facility is set to be functional in 2028. CBC’s Stacey Janzer has more.Charlottetown is getting a new waste processing plant that will use less energy to operate and take in more trash, from right across Prince Edward Island.”We’re going to see, first of all, a new facility, state of the art… We intend it to be the envy of the world,” said Carlyle Coutinho, CEO of Enwave Energy Corporation.Enwave is the company behind the project, which will also have investment from the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, as well as support from the province and City of Charlottetown. The clean energy project is expected to cost about $180 million.The new plant will be located at the site of P.E.I. Energy Systems on Riverside Drive, and is expected to double the capacity of the existing facility.Carlyle Coutinho, CEO of Enwave Energy Corporation, says this new facility will be state of the art and hopes it will be the ‘envy of the world.’ (Stacey Janzer/CBC)”That is taking more waste from our landfills, less landfills, more energy for homes, businesses and institutions,” Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown said. “[It] is good news for not only Charlottetown, but the whole province.”About 42 per cent of what ends up in black bins in Charlottetown and some of the surrounding areas makes it to the current plant. The new facility will be able to take 90 per cent of garbage from across the province.The trash is turned into energy, which today can heat 145 buildings in Charlottetown, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, City Hall and more. Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown says three levels of government are working together on this project. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)Coutinho said he hopes that number will go up in the future. “It won’t increase because of the plant per se; however, it will improve the carbon emissions of the whole system.”High hopes for new facilityCoutinho said this is a project that workers at the current facility, which is 42 years old, have been hoping to see for a long time. “When you give people the opportunity to invest and modernize and learn and be a part of it, they’re super engaged and they’re super happy to be a part of it,” he said.This rendering shows what the facility should look like. The new plant is expected to be functional by 2028. (Submitted by EnWave Energy Corporation)Ehren Cory, CEO of Canada Infrastructure Bank, said this is exactly the kind of project they like to invest in.”This project fits very much within our mandate, which is to invest in projects that deliver public benefits,” he said. “We’re a Crown corporation, so we, unlike other investors, we care about public good.”The bank loaned Enwave $600 million for several projects across the country.”What gets us excited about them is how they deliver multiple types of return, you know,” Cory said.”They deliver a financial return; that’s great, that’s going to allow us our loan to get paid back.”But they deliver public return in the form of low-cost, reliable clean energy that heats a bunch of buildings in downtown Charlottetown and reduces the need for landfills on a pretty constrained island.”Ehren Cory, CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, says this is one of seven projects across Canada that the bank and Enwave Energy Corporation have partnered on. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)Construction set to start later this yearCoutinho said construction is set to start late this year or early 2026, depending on weather conditions. It’s set to be functional in 2028.After the new plant is running, the old building won’t be coming down. “It will be decommissioned. We’re going to keep the building. Hopefully we’ll have space for future projects, for future energy projects. We’re still going to have the biomass here,” Coutinho said.ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Stacey Janzer
New $180-million waste processing plant set to open in Charlottetown in 2028
