ADAPTING TO THE EVOLVING TON Accordant s Competitive Approach

Transcription

1 ADAPTING TO THE EVOLVING TON Accordant s Competitive Approach Jens A. Hybertson THE PRINCIPLES The municipal solid waste stream has experienced significant compositional changes over recent time, indicated through decreased volumes of paper, increases in plastics, and an influx of lightweighted materials. IMPACTS ON RECYCLING As a result, average densities per ton of waste have decreased substantially while volumes have increased, presenting challenges to both the profitability of recycling facilities and the accuracy of recycling success metrics. THE ACCORDANT ADVANTAGE Accordant s three competitive abilities allow for the adaptable maximization of landfill diversion and material recycling, consistently resulting in the highest and best use of evolving waste stream constituents. CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE Phone: (802) larry.clark@accordantenergy.com LLC. All Rights Reserved 2017 Accordant Energy paula.calabrese@accordantenergy.com 1

2 Adapting to The Evolving Ton: Accordant s Competitive Approach Executive Summary The evolving ton, a rising topic of conversation within the waste processing and recycling world, refers to the changing nature of waste streams over time as related to composition and density. As a result of alterations to product packaging and the growth of online commerce and publishing, municipal solid waste streams are increasingly composed of less paper, more plastic, less steel (in packaging) and an overall influx of lightweighted packaging and materials. Fundamentally, this leads to a decrease in the average weight of waste streams, and higher volumes and lower densities of waste per ton. This phenomenon presents a significant financial challenge to recycling processors and existing material recovery facilities given revenues are collected based on weight while costs are incurred by volume - as well as necessitates a new recycling performance metric as weight-based diversion achievement no longer accurately depicts success. This white paper displays the competitive approach Accordant s technologies take in adapting to the changing waste stream and outlines an improved recycling success metric, based in achieved greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The Principles of the Evolving Ton Over recent years, the waste stream has experienced an overall decrease in paper composition and a subsequent increase in plastics, lightweighted materials, and old corrugated containers. These changes can largely be attributed to the digitization of media, increased online commerce and shopping, as well as attention to product design, sustainable materials management, and environmental stewardship. As media has moved increasingly online, the newspaper industry, among other printing industries, has experienced significant impacts. Taken from Pew Research Center reports, the total estimated circulation for weekday newspapers in 2016 was 34,657,199 papers, decreasing 44.4% from 1990 levels. 1 In this same time period - according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the average annual number of employees in the paper and paper products industries has dropped by 42.96%. 2 The resulting impacts on waste stream composition are evident. As 1 Barthel, Michael, Newspaper Fact Sheet, Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media (Jun. 1, 2017), 2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industries at a Glance: Paper Manufacturing: NAICS 322 (Sept. 27, 2017), Accordant Energy LLC. All Rights Reserved 2

3 analyzed from EPA data, the percentage of paper in total U.S. MSW generation decreased by a notable 9.1% between 2001 and ,4 While paper composition has decreased, plastic composition has increased. EPA data indicates the percentage of plastics in total U.S. MSW generation to have grown by 1.8% between 2001 and ,6 In slightly differing data, Waste Management, Inc. reported plastics to comprise 12.7% of the company s processed waste stream in 2011, increasing by a notable 2.2% from the year before. 7 At the same time, increases in online commerce have significantly contributed to larger volumes of small shipping packages in residential waste, specifically old corrugated containers (OCC). A profile from Waste360 indicated OCC generation to have increased 302% since , and in 2016 the Freedonia Group research firm projected demand for corrugated and paperboard containers to increase by 2.6% annually to $41.2 billion in While OCC have historically been a significant source of profit for recyclers, the shift from clean homogenous loads of material generated by retail outlets to an influx of material produced by individual households (and ultimately combined with various other materials) contributes to new challenges of contamination and sorting. Furthermore, these materials have an inherently lighter weight-to-volume ratio than the other paper products included in the EPA s paper totals, adding to the decreased average density per ton within the waste stream. The types of plastics in the waste stream have also evolved over time, with increased attention towards product/packaging design and end of life management creating lighter weight innovations and material substitutions. Transitions from PET bottles, HPE bottles, and metal cans to multi layered thin-film pouches; glass jars to PET jars; and the lightweighting of plastic water bottles and other various plastic containers are all examples of this. As an illustration, a 2015 study prepared 3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter EPA ), Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Municipal Solid Waste in The United States: 2001 Facts and Figures (Oct. 2003), 4 EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2014 Fact Sheet (Nov. 2016), 5 EPA, supra note 3. 6 EPA, supra note 4. 7 Robinson, Susan, The Changing Waste Stream: EPA Webinar Series, Waste Management (Nov. 13, 2014), 8 Miller, Chaz, Profiles in Garbage: Corrugated Boxes, Waste360 (Jan. 21, 2015), 9 The Freedonia Group, Corrugated & Paperboard Boxes Demand and Sales Forecasts, Market Share, Market Size, Market Leaders (preview). (Apr. 2016), Accordant Energy LLC. All Rights Reserved 3

4 for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) reported one-gallon plastic milk jugs to be 30% lighter today than in the 1980s. 10 Glass and aluminum packaging that remain in the waste stream are also significantly lighter weight than they once were. The same study reported aluminum cans to be 15% lighter today than twenty years ago 11, and the Glass Packaging Institute reports glass bottles to have decreased 40% in weight over the past thirty years. 12 As such changes in municipal waste stream composition and packaging design ultimately lead to decreased densities per ton, the accuracy and consistency of weight-based recycling performance indicators are consequentially challenged. This provides issues for both the profitability of material recovery facilities as well as the successful development and monitoring of recycling programs. In example, EPA data indicates recycling rates to have risen dramatically in the early 1990s before apparently stagnating in recent years. However, given these rates are calculated based on tonnages and these trends have been simultaneously accompanied by the above-discussed changes in the waste stream (and consequential increased volumes per ton), this data inaccurately depicts recycling progress. And, as these trends indicate recycling stagnation, communities increasingly turn to solutions to enhance rates, implementing larger curbside collection containers and single stream collection programs. This in turn contributes to increased contamination in the recycling mix and decreases in processed bale yields, providing additional cost challenges to existing recycling facilities. A New Performance Metric Given recycling rates have become increasingly flawed and disparate, finding a more standardized method for measuring recycling and diversion performance is necessary. It has long been established that diverting waste from landfill disposal and recovering materials for reuse significantly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As reported by the EPA, recycling and composting in 2014 reduced US annual emissions by 181 million metric tons of Co 2 equivalent (MMTCO2E), the same as removing 38 million passenger vehicles from the road. 13 Reducing emissions and mitigating climate change is a critical topic of concern domestically and globally, requiring participation from all emitters and industries. As recycling and diversion are key components of sustainable economic development, it appears 10 Green Spectrum Consulting LLC and Resource Recycling, Inc., Making Sense of the Mix: Analysis and Implications of the Changing Curbside Recycling Stream, 26, American Chemistry Council (Feb. 2015), Resources/Publications/Making-Sense-of-the-Mix.pdf. 11 Id. 12 Glass Packaging Institute, Recycling: Glass Recycling Statistics, 13 EPA, supra note Accordant Energy LLC. All Rights Reserved 4

5 increasingly logical to measure their performance based on achieved emissions reductions. Importantly, industry leaders are already adopting this concept. In its 2016 Sustainability Report, Waste Management Inc. heavily emphasized the year s success by indicating the company s emissions reductions, identifying as a net-ghg reducer and pointing out that for the year 2015, the company s GHG reducing services saved over three times the total GHG emissions than they generated. 14 While GHG emission reduction calculations can be complex for different activities, a standardized and reliable model already exists on a federal level. The EPA s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) - formulated to help planners and organizations track emissions reductions calculates and totals the emissions from baseline and alternative waste management practices including source reduction, recycling, composting, landfilling, anaerobic digestion, and combustion. 15 The model is periodically updated to accommodate new information and changes in materials, positioning it as adaptable to the evolving waste stream. And, as it is constructed by one regulatory agency holding significant expertise in the subject, WARM provides the necessary level of standardization for accurately indicating recycling and diversion success. The Accordant Advantage Accordant Energy s competitive approach in adapting to a fluctuating waste stream can be broken down into three main abilities: the ability to process commingled waste and recycling streams; the ability to achieve rapid technology advancement with high process flexibility and intelligence; and the ability to maximize downstream material usage through the manufacturing of a renewable fuel, trade-named ReEngineered Feedstock (ReEF). In combination, these attributes allow maximized diversion and Three Competitive Abilities Comingled waste/recycling processing High process flexibility/intelligence Maximized downstream material usage via fuel manufacturing recycling and result in the highest and best use of evolving waste stream constituents. The ability to process a mixed waste stream primarily means that consumer knowledge and presorting infrastructure is not required. As household participation is a large determinant of recycling program success, single or dual recycling systems require consumers to remain consistently educated on what is recyclable or non- 14 Waste Management, Inc. Leading Change: 2016 Sustainability Report, 4 (2016), 15 EPA, Waste Reduction Model (WARM), Accordant Energy LLC. All Rights Reserved 5

6 recyclable. Accordingly, changes in packaging and materials necessitate changes in behavior. However, if the need for such presorting is foregone and can be conducted at one mixed waste processing facility, such consumer participation is significantly less relevant to recycling success. In sorting such mixed waste streams, Accordant s use of advanced and intelligent processing technologies contributes to a well-equipped system that can quickly advance and adapt as the waste stream evolves. Optical and chemical sorting present benefits when added to mechanical sorting, as enhanced programming flexibility allows the continuous determination of best material usage on a time and place specific basis. This provides less dependence on the volatility of the commodities market, and allows processing based on specific downstream needs. Finally, the ability to utilize non-recyclable constituents for the production of a renewable fuel maximizes diversion and end-of-life management, beneficially contributing to a circular economy. As ReEF can be customized and tailored based on available material inputs as well its ultimate destination, it further contributes to design flexibility and the adaptable benefits of Accordant s systems. Measuring Optimized Success In measuring the optimized performance of these technologies using the earlier-discussed GHG emission reduction metric, multiple advantages can be realized. On the processing end, maximized diversion and recycling rates contribute to the avoidance of emissions that would otherwise be produced through decomposition in landfills and the sourcing of virgin materials. As described earlier, the emissions reductions from recycling and landfill diversion are significant. Project-specific WARM analysis comparing Accordant s waste processing and ReEF production scenario over a baseline of sole landfilling indicated the company s technologies to result in a total GHG emissions reduction of 13,586 metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCOE), the same as removing the annual emissions from 10,488 passenger vehicles. And, by repurposing non-recyclables into a fuel feedstock for renewable electricity generation, reductions are taken a step further, resulting from the displacement of fossil fuel combustion as well as the ability to control emissions in existing power plants. More information on the environmental and economic advantages of ReEF can be found in Accordant s upcoming white paper, ReEngineered Feedstock: A Renewable Energy Source. The dichotomous nature of Accordant s technologies and the significant GHG emission reductions provided on both sides allows for optimized success that can quickly be realized by licensees and their respective communities. And, despite an evolving waste stream, this success can remain continuous and be measured accurately, providing reliable returns on investment and trustworthy performance over extensive periods of time Accordant Energy LLC. All Rights Reserved 6