Agenda - Council - 01/12/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I BACKGROUND ON DISPOSAL "RESOURCE RECOVERY", AS THE TERM USED IN OUR REPORT, REFERS TO THE RECOVERY OF ENER- GY FROM WASTE MATERIALS THROUGH HlGH TECH- NOLOGY PROCESSES THAT INVOLVE INCINERATION. The recovered energy is generally used to heat buildings, pro- duce electricity or dhve manufacturing processes. Today, there are appro×imately 40 resource recovery plants in the Uniled States; some are built and operating, some are con- strucled bu! inoperative, and some are still in the planning or construction stage. In Minnesota, a resource recovery plant has been built in Duluth. Plants are being proposed in the cities of Red Wing, Collegeville, Saint Paul, and in Hennepin County. In the Twin Cities, resource recovery facilities are to be plan- ned along with the implmnentation of other policies as part of a larger solid waste management program whose primary goal is to abate the need to bury solid waste in landfills. Other abatement policies that are included in the program are: 1) waste reduction, which involves trying to reduce the amount of waste produced, either by changing product de- signs or consumer behavior, 2) mechanical volume reduc- tion, which can involve bailing techniques that increase the density of waste or shredding of waste to reduce its volume, and 3) source separation, which usually involves recycling. efforts by homeowners, businesses, and governmental offices. THERE ARE THREE BASIC TYPES OF RESOLIRCE RE- COVERY FACILITIES. THEY CAN BE DISTINGLRSHED BY THE AMOUNT OF PROCESSING THAT OCCURS BE- FORE WASTE IS INCINERATED. Mass Burning Facilities In lhese facilities little or no processing of the waste is done prior to incineration. Waste is simply dumped into the facility and burned. There are over.gOO such facilities in the world today. In the United States examples of mass burn- ing facilities can be found in Nashville, TN, Hampton, VA, and Saugus, MA. Semi-suspension Plants In these facilities some separation of materials is done me- chanically to recover metals and non-burnable waste, prior to incineration. In the United States, examples of such plants can be found in Akron, OH; Niagara Falls, NY; and Hamil- · ton, Ontario. ~ Refuse4erived Fuel Facilities (RI)F) These facilities are intended to produce a fuel from refuse which can then be used as an alternative fuel in conventional fossil fuel-fired energy systems. RDF plants involve a higher degree of processing than do the other two types of plants. Sometimes this processing involves shredding the refuse into small (six inch squares, for example) pieces. Examples of RDF plants can be found in Ames, IA and Duluth. TODAY, .THE PRIMARY METHOD OF DISPOSING OF SOLID WASTE IN THE TWIN CITIES, AND MINNESOTA, IS BURYING THE WASTE IN LANDFILLS. There axe currently 11 sanitary landf'flls operating in the Twin City metropolitan area. Approximately 90% of the waste generated in the regioh is disposed of in these landfills.' About 8% of the region's waste is currently recycled. Today, all the landfills are privately owned. Three of the landfills, all owned by Browning-Ferris, take in aPproxi- mately 60% of the region's waste. Negotiations are also underway which could make Browning-Ferris the owner of a fourth landftll here. Consequently, there is only limited competition in disposal today. There are also seven transfer stations operating in the region. Refuse haulers can bring their waste to a transfer station, where it is then moved into trucks of larger capacity for transport to a landfill. According to Metropolitan Council studies, at current waste generation rates and current licensed landf'dl capacity, the re- gion's existing landfills will all be full by the end of the 1980s. Some of the landfills here are located on sites large -2- I