Advanced Disposal Chooses Florida for New Headquarters
Advanced Disposal Inc. (Jacksonville, FL), which needed a new corporate headquarters following its $1.9 billion acquisition of Veolia's US waste business, has formally selected a site in nearby St. Johns County. Following the merger last July as well as the consolidation with its sister company Interstate Waste, speculation had swirled over whether the company might relocate to Milwaukee, where Veolia has its offices, Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, or remain in Florida. The new 56,000 square-foot, hurricane proof building in Nocatee, FL puts a beautiful face on the company and ought to prove a compelling draw for previously northern-based employees...Read More »
Republic Services Hires New CFO
Republic Services, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ) has appointed a new chief financial officer. Glenn A. Culpepper is to replace long-time CFO Tod C. Holmes, who retires on Jan. 9th, having announced his intention to do so last April. Culpepper was, until recently, CFO for Summit Materials LLC, a building materials company that also has a waste services division. He was CFO there for two years and has more than 30 years of experience in finance. "We are fortunate to have an executive with Glenn's deep financial background and proven leadership join the senior executive team at Republic," said Donald W. Slager, president and CEO, in a statement. "Glenn's experience at large, decentralized, growth-oriented industrial companies is a perfect fit for our organization."...Read More »
Plasco Wins Approval to Build Ottawa Waste-to-Energy Plant
Plasco Energy said it will build its long-planned 150,000 ton-per-year advanced waste-to-energy plant in Ottawa, Ontario, now that the city has formally signed agreements with the company. The city has committed to supply the plant with 109,500 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year with a right of first refusal to supply the balance of the plant's capacity under a 20-year contract that gives the city four optional 5-year extensions. The city will initially pay a tipping fee of $83.25 per ton that will escalate annually in line with the Consumer Price Index. And, while the contract is worth at least $183 million over the next 20 years, the city says it expects to save $250 million by avoiding the use of its landfill. Plasco's energy conversion system employs plasma technology to convert waste into synthetic gas that can be burned cleanly to power internal combustion engines, together with a steam turbine driven by heat recovered from the process and engines, to produce about 15 megawattsof net electricity...Read More »
CRS Report Says Lawsuits Likely if Congress Preempts EPA on Coal Ash Rules
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) says that legislation under consideration in both houses of Congress which would prevent EPA from declaring coal ash a hazardous waste, would prompt litigation that will result in courts having to determine disposal standards, in lieu of specific federal guidelines. The Dec. 5 CRS report analyzes H.R. 2273 and S. 3512, both of which contain provisions that would delegate authority to regulate coal ash disposal to the states. The CRS report notes that while the permitting program would be modeled in part on current rules for municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, ambiguities in the bills, given that no new federal regulations would be created and no specific safety standards would be required to be met, "would be subject to state (and ultimately court) interpretation."...Read More »
California Agencies Coordinate Effort to Draft Waste Sector GHG Rules
California's waste department and Air Resources Board (ARB) are working together to develop greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction measures for waste and recycling operations that will likely focus on diverting organics, including food wastes from landfills. The effort is part of a 5-year scoping plan required under the state's ambitious global warming law AB 32, passed in 2006 which set a requirement of reducing GHG emissions to 1990 levels by the end of 2020. CalRecycle officials said during a Dec. 11 meeting that the agency will be working closely with ARB on developing new waste-sector GHG measures that will likely be focused on reducing "organics" disposal, such as a measure targeting food waste at restaurants or other commercial generators of organic waste with a goal to cut organics disposal 50 percent by 2020...Read More »
Company Opens Nation's Largest Food Waste Digester
CleanWorld (Gold River, CA) has opened what it says in the country's largest commercial-scale high solid waste-to-energy digester in Sacramento, CA. The plant, which is in Sacramento, will initially convert 25 tons per day of food wastes from area businesses and restaurants into renewable natural gas, electricity and soil-amendment products. Later, it will be expanded to handle 100 tons per day. "Opening this facility is an historic step for our company, region and the state," said Michele Wong, CEO of CleanWorld. "CleanWorld is proud to be leading the way in successfully commercializing technologies that efficiently and cost-effectively convert organic waste into renewable energy and other organic products." CleanWorld's system is based on AD technology originally developed at UC Davis to convert food waste, agricultural residue and other organic waste with up to 50 percent solid content into renewable energy, fertilizer and soil enhancements without adding water...Read More »
Groups Want EPA to Expand Study of Wastewater from Fracking Disposal Risk
Environmental groups want EPA to expand its study of wastewater disposal from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to include disposal in underground injection wells, where at least 90 percent of disposal occurs. Its current study is only concerned with releases to treatment facilities. Their concern is that produced water discharges from fracking operations contain a host of pollutants that are contaminating surface water resources and that research would bolster their case for EPA to strengthen its disposal rules for wastewater from oil and gas drilling operations, which is currently exempt from strict hazardous waste disposal requirements. The exemption allows disposal in less-regulated Class II wastewater disposal wells, rather than more strictly regulated Class I wells...Read More »
Green Conversion Systems Takes Over Last Veolia Incinerator in Florida
Green Conversion Systems LLC (Rye, NY) is taking over the operating contract for one of the largest waste-to-energy plants in the US from Veolia Environmental Services. The plant which is located in St. Petersburg, FL, and owned by Pinellas County, is the last of Veolia's US operations formerly operated under the Montenay Power Corp. subsidiary. The plant processes 3,150 tons of waste per day and generates about 75 megawatts of electricity that is sold to Progress Energy, a unit of Duke Energy Corp. Thomas Murphy, a 26-year veteran in the waste-to-energy business, will move from Veolia to become president of Green Conversion Systems' operating and business development divisions. With the exception of Pinellas County, Veolia mostly exited the US waste-to-energy business when it sold its plants to Covanta Energy for $450 million in July 2009. Veolia completed the sale of its US solid waste business to Advanced Disposal for $1.9 billion last month...Read More »
Blue Sphere Ready to Build 5.2 MW Waste-to-Energy Plant in NC
Waste-to-Energy and cleantech company Blue Sphere Corp. (Yehuda, Israel) said it had bought a property for its 5.2 megawatt waste-to-energy facility in North Carolina, where construction can begin in the coming quarter. The company says it has already secured a 15-year power purchase agreement, feedstock supply with a tipping fee and compost off-take agreements. They have formed a joint venture with Germany's Biogas Nord AG, a waste-to-energy engineering, procurement, and construction company, to jointly develop this and another similar 3.2 megawatt project in Rhode Island. The two also plan to develop another 50 megawatts of waste-to-energy projects in the US over the next few years...Read More »
Progressive Opens New MRF in Calgary, AB
BFI Canada, a division of Progressive Waste Solutions, Ltd., has opened a new 125 ton-per-day material recovery facility (MRF) in Calgary, AB. The 122,000 square-foot facility will house 105 full-time employees and advanced technology to sort and process cardboard, paper products, plastics and beverage containers...Read More »
Sims Recycling Buys E-Waste Recycler Near Vancouver
Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS), is continuing to expand its electronics recycling business with its recent purchase of Langley, BC-based Genesis Recycling Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. Genesis is located just outside of Vancouver recycles electronics and small appliances for business, government and industrial customers. "We are excited to have the Genesis team join the SRS family," said Steve Skurnac, president of SRS, Americas. "With our strong presence in Ontario and eastern Canada, this acquisition was an attractive opportunity for Sims Metal Management to enter western Canada and further strengthen its North America SRS electronics recycling business."...Read More »
Sign up to receive our free Weekly News Bulletin