According to CN’s 2022 Sustainability Report, the company is working with its partners to explore innovative ways to optimize resource use and divert waste from landfills.
“For example, our partnership with Kruger, a North American leader in paper and paperboard recycling and a long-standing CN customer, has enabled us to ensure used rail ties are transformed into renewable energy instead of being sent to landfill. In 2020 alone, through our partnership we diverted over 751,000 of CN’s rail ties and generated approximately 186 GWh of clean energy at Kruger facilities.”
Rather than sending retired ties to the land, the report says CN collects, chips and ships them to some of its customers, like Kruger, for use as biomass to power their cogeneration plants.
https://www.sasktoday.ca/highlights/stockpiles-of-old-railway-ties-worrying-denholm-residents-7349437