The Future of Solid Waste in Carroll County. Waste Not! Carroll

Transcription

1 The Future of Solid Waste in Carroll County Waste Not! Carroll

2 OR, How NOT to Waste $1/2 Billion*! Waste Not! Carroll

3 The Missouri Approach: Show ME! Waste Not! Carroll Over 50,000 people proudly served!

4 The American American Dream? Dream (?) The

5 Or perhaps more of a Nightmare!

6 What to do with all that TRASH?

7 To a LANDFILL?

8 TRUCK to an Out-of-State LANDFILL?

9 To an INCINERATOR?

10 Or perhaps something different?

11 2-0

12 Unfortunately, There is an 800 lb Gorilla in the Room!

13 THE Problem - Carroll County must deal with of approximately 100,000 tons of MSW each year. - Currently, the County has a contract with a hauler to ship the trash out of state, where it is landfilled. - The current contract price is $55/ton. - The budget for FY 2012 for this activity is $5.5 million.

14 The GORILLA'S Solution - Build a WTE incinerator in Frederick County that will cost about 1/2 Billion dollars (plus interest) and require 503,000 tons of trash annually. (Carroll's share = 40% of totals) - The planned tip fee at the incinerator is $67/ton. - The 2015 projected first year cost to Carroll is $11.5 million. - And Carroll will be responsible for landfilling or otherwise dealing with 40% of the residual ash.

15 Myths about Waste to Energy We simply don't produce enough trash In FY 2010, CC shipped 87,635 tons of MSW to PA by contract In FY 2009, we shipped about 89,000 tons (MORE than in 2010) Based on 365 hauling days/yr to the incinerator = 240 tons /day Our 40% share of the proposed 1500 tpd incinerator = 600 tpd! Once open, we will be required to supply 552 tpd (minimum) Proponents of WTE dismiss concerns over capacity by stating that we will grow into the facility. Using current population growth data, it would take at least 50 years for that to occur. The lifespan of the facility is only 30 years!

16 Myths about Waste to Energy WTE will NOT magically eliminate the need for a landfill Approximately 10% of our waste is 'non-processable' With WTE, we will be required to landfill our share of the ash produced. That will be equivalent to 10 15% by volume, 30% by weight of the original MSW. Therefore, our landfill will fill FASTER with the incinerator operating than it does now under our current contract! How about that ASH? (toxicity and concentration).

17 Myths about Waste to Energy WTE (and other 'conversion' technologies) are a POOR source of non-renewable energy. These processes DESTROY resources and WASTE Energy Building huge incinerators to burn discarded paper and plastic for their high heat content creates a DEMAND for more 'waste', thereby directly competing with much needed efforts to conserve resources, reduce packaging and waste, and encourage recycling and composting.

18 *How does 'Burning' MSW Waste Energy? Manufacturing one ton of virgin newspaper from trees takes 11,699 kilowatt-hours of electricity. If that ton is burned (converted), it might produce 1,875 kwh of electricity to sell. That is a WASTE of 9,824 kwh/ton! IF that ton of paper is recycled, a new ton of paper can be produced using only 6,442 kwh. Recycling paper saves 5,257 kwh/ton!

19 One More Example - Even plastics such as PET (soda bottles) that have a high heat content (10,250 BTU/pound) produce only 2,403 kwh/ton when combusted yet require 9,619 kwh/ton to manufacture. That's another LOSS of 7,216 kwh/ton! If that ton of plastic is recycled, a new ton of plastic can be made using only 1,222 kwh/ton. That's a SAVINGS of 8,397 kwh/ton! And these two materials have the BEST heat values - metals, glass, organics, and C&D are of little or NO value from the electrical generating standpoint. In fact, they can hurt the process!

20 One Last Myth of Waste to Energy Mass burn technologies are NOT a good source of JOBS Mark Lyons, project VP for Wheelabrator, told a recent public hearing that the Frederick WTE incinerator will generate1600 private-sector jobs during construction, and 80 well paying jobs during its operation. Sounds good, except these jobs could cost taxpayers over $1/2 million EACH if spread over the 30 year lifespan of these facilities!

21 How Do the JOBS Really Compare? TYPE OF OPERATION JOBS/10,000 tons Product Re Use up to 300 Recycling-based Manufacturing 25 Conventional Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) 10 Composting 4 Landfill and Incineration 1 Source: ILSR

22 OK, So What About a SOLUTION? TECHNOLOGY vs. COMMON SENSE

23 ZERO WASTE RETHINK what you buy and discard REFUSE to buy cheap, nondurable goods REDUCE our waste REUSE then RECYCLE ROT (compost) and REDESIGN courtesy of Ms. Karin Tome

24 What it could be...

25 WHERE is a County to Begin? Locate Comparable Communities Dust off some of the old Reports Incentivize the Behavior Invest in the Future

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