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The vision has been around for decades: garbage should be turned into an asset instead of simply buried in time-bomb landfills as a nasty legacy for future generations.
Problems with various solutions have included diverting a disappointingly low percentage of waste away from landfills to real beneficial uses, implementing a risky process lacking proven operational or financial performance and even creating additional environmental damage. The game changer that has opened the door to achieving this elusive conversion goal is now found in the combination of three engineering and green energy advances: 1. Very attractive ongoing financial incentives for the production of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), along with recognition from the government and industry of the environmental advantages. 2. WastAway processing systems that provide dependable and consistent feedstock for conversion to RNG, while cleanly repurposing 90% of unsorted Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). 3. Globally proven Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology producing high-energy RNG plus an EPA-approved coal replacement solid fuel from that feedstock. Other WastAway products include: a coal replacement, biofuels, soil additive in its purest form and building materials. New RNG Opportunities Are Moving Quickly: In Kern County, California, home to Bakersfield, a WastAway-led conversion project five years in permitting and development will soon start construction to address that state’s stringent 1383 MSW diversion requirements, and to begin reducing the county’s future carbon footprint. The growing city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, has approved a WastAway project to give the city full control of its disposal future. The sustainable fuel and biogas production facility will also provide a lower cost solution with a very significant reduction in carbon footprint. Reducing current disposal risks while increasing environmental stewardship is the hallmark of both projects, as well as others in development from Florida to Canada. Those risks include: • Inevitable and unpredictable increases in landfill fees and/or hauling costs • Odor, traffic and ground water contamination problems directly attributed to landfills • Increasing costs to separately collect and process paper, plastic and food waste • Roller coaster markets for recycled paper and plastic • Extreme difficulty in expanding existing or siting new landfills Environmental Impact Is Measurable: The volume of poisonous methane released into our air by decaying landfills is alarming. Moving forward, the best solution is not to deposit garbage in the ground to rot, but use existing technology to process the waste, remove the methane and put it to work as RNG – offsetting and replacing destructive fossil fuels. According to the Environmental Protection Agency metrics, a conversion system the size now underway in either Murfreesboro or Kern County (400 tons/day of MSW processed each) will have significant impacts on our planet’s atmosphere. Each year, these projects would be equivalent to: • Removing 96,000 automobiles from the highway • Subtracting 866,000 pounds of carbon from the air • Leveraging 517,000 additional acres of forest land producing clean oxygen Financial Opportunity Adds Even More Power Some of the largest commercial energy producers in America have vetted these RNG production projects. Attractive annual bottom-line income streams, backed up by long-term contracts with municipalities and energy buyers combine to drive excellent pro formas. Some $380 billion federal dollars have been allocated to support RNG capital projects like the current WastAway efforts, projects that already are self-supporting with fast cash on cash payback. That combination offers high-return financing opportunities through private or public funding. Because the foundational research has been firmly established, analysis of specific local waste/fuel/market situations can be accomplished quickly, with interested funding sources already identified. Implementation Key: A Single-Source Partnership The scientific, engineering and financial depth to successfully develop these projects must come with experience in navigating and integrating the interests of multiple stakeholders. Working with local governments to establish long-term MSW offtake contracts, implementing proven processing and production operations and profitable marketing of RNG and other fuel products all requires a consistent, laser focus on the larger picture and hundreds of details. From initial financial pro formas and regulatory approvals, to construction and operations, WastAway delivers proven ability as a top single-source partner. WastAway is interested in your situation and talking though RNG as the best landfill diversion opportunity available. Reach us at info@wastaway.com, or call our Tennessee offices at (931) 815-8520. For more information, visit www.wastaway.com. This can be a game-changer for a brighter, greener – and cleaner – future for all of us. Mark S. Brown is CEO of WastAway, a leading green tech company that converts municipal solid waste (MSW) to fuel –
