As Britain runs out of landfills, one UK company is launching a landfill mining project to free up space and create energy in the process. But will it do more harm than good?

What happens when we run out of landfill space? Though it’s a question every country may face sooner than later, Britain is having to deal with it now. At the rate they’re producing waste, they’re on track to run out of landfill space by 2018! One UK company thinks they have a solution though – mining landfills and turning said waste into fuel and recyclables.

In what is projected to be a 30-year project, UK company Advanced Power Plasma (APP) will dig through a landfill in Belgium where trash has been dumped since the 1960s. They expect about half the trash to be recyclable, and the other half to be converted into fuel.

The APP landfill mining project is set to be operational by 2014. It is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, though other companies throughout Europe are exploring similar endeavors.

Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter explains:

“APP has developed a four stage process of converting waste into ‘a clean hydrogen-rich syngas and a vitrified recyclate called Plasmarok® that can be used as a building material or replacement aggregate.’ They claim it produces little or no emissions and “almost nothing is left – around 2% of input volumes – for landfill.’ They also claim that it has a negative carbon footprint.”

But as Alter points out, critics of the project say it’s impossible to burn something without producing some sort of air pollutants. And that APP technology is nothing more than an incinerator in disguise.

Then take into account the health risks associated with landfill mining and maybe it’s not such a great idea after all. After decades of dumping, who knows what’s down there? Asbestos for sure, and other toxic substances, not to mention the possibility of trapped methane gas igniting once the digging begins.

On second thought, instead of clearing out old landfills to make room for new ones, how about we step up our household and business recycling and composting efforts instead?

Meredith Simonds Landfills, Recycling Advanced Power Plasma, Belgium, fuel, landfill mining, Landfills, recyclables, trash, Treehugger, UK, waste

Waste Management announces plans for the first plasma gasification facility in the U.S., utilizing high-heat plasma technology to turn waste into fuel and energy.

In another move positioning it as a U.S. industry leader in converting landfill waste into energy, Waste Management is breaking ground on a “plasma gasification” facility. Located in Oregon, this renewable energy technology will utilize high temperatures in enclosed gas chambers to turn municipal trash into usable fuel and energy. This endeavor comes two years after Waste Management became the first in its industry to partner with landfill owners to develop landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) projects.

“This project strengthens our focus on renewable energy and new technologies that use waste as a resources,” says Dean Kattler, area vice president for Waste Management Pacific Northwest.

“Our goal is to extract as much value as possible from waste and this project will help us recover valuable resources to generate clean fuels, renewable energy and other beneficial products.”

TWO-PHASE PLASMA GASIFICATION EXPLAINED

Phase 1: A gasification chamber heats landfill waste at 1,500 degree Fahrenheit.

Phase 2: A second gasification chamber superheats the waste at 10,000 to 20,000 degree Fahrenheit. It is this phase that utilizes the electricity-conducting gas, plasma, which rearranges the molecular structure of waste.

It is the molecularly-rearranged waste produced in Phase 2 — “syngas” – that can be converted into ethanol, diesel, hydrogen and methanol. Or it can be used in place of natural gas to generate heat or electricity.

PLASMA GASIFICATION AROUND THE WORLD

Waste Management is not the only company investing in the application of plasma gasification to convert waste into fuel.

Just last month, British Airways announced its plans to use waste-based jet fuel as a means of generating 10 percent of its fuel from renewable resources by 2014. To that end, Solena Group is building a plant for British Airways that utilizes plasma gasification technology to turn garbage into jet fuel.

In fact, according to Columbia University, plasma gasification facilities exist all over the world, including Taiwan, Japan, Canada, and England. That said, with plans to break ground in early summer the Waste Management facility does appear to be the first in the U.S., though others are reportedly planned for Florida, Georgia and California.

Meredith Simonds Landfills, Recycling British Airways, Columbia University, landfill waste, municipal trash, plasma gasification, Renewable Energy, Solena Group, Waste Management

There you are, at the grocery store again, and you hear those familiar words…. paper, or plastic?

I was quite surprised when I did an ex-patriot assignment in the Czech Republic over ten years ago, and went to the supermarket for the first time. I saw folks walking around with cloth and wicker bags in the store but didn’t think anything of it, until I went to check out. They didn’t have a bag for me to use (of any kind!); I walked back to my flat juggling my yogurt and apples and made a mental note to bring my gym bag on the next visit. In retrospect, I’m amazed that given how “far behind” the U.S. they appeared to be as far as so many other aspects of life and the environment (don’t get stuck behind one of the hundreds of old diesel jalopies on the road), that they seemed so progressive at least in this one area of using recyclable shopping bags.

So, plastic, paper, or cloth? Actually, this is a controversial subject, and one that a number of cities in the U.S. are taking real steps to answer for consumers. In March 2007, San Fransisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic shopping bags. Just last week, a city council committee in San Diego proposed an ordinance banning plastic shopping bags, the latest California community to consider legislation to eliminate their use. The proposed law would prohibit supermarkets and drug stores from providing plastic bags to customers, beginning July 1, 2009, to encourage the use of reusable shopping bags. Customers could also purchase paper grocery bags, if desired, for a quarter. Similar laws have already been enacted in the California cities of San Francisco, Malibu, Los Angeles, and Manhattan Beach, and are proposed in Encinitas and Bakersfield. Additionally, the following U.S. cities are considering fees or bans of plastic bags: Austin, TX, Annapolis, Md, Boston, MA, Portland, OR, Phoenix, AZ and New Haven, CT. In Seattle,WA– whose city council approved legislation dubbed the “green fee,” in July of this year– is currently held off until the voters decide to accept or repeal it, due to a (plastics) industry group fighting it’s passage. The earliest it would go on the ballot is August 2009.

But California isn’t the only beach state on the ban-wagon: the Maui County Council passed Hawaii’s first municipal ban on plastic shopping bags in August of this year, which will take effect in January 2011 to provide time for stores to convert to reusable cloth bags or recyclable paper bags.  Later that month, the “big island” of Hawaii jumped on the ban-wagon as well. It seems as though plastic bags often end up in the ocean in these coastal cities, where they damage the ocean ecosystem or get washed down storm drains, which is certainly additional incentive for eliminating their use in these areas.

It is estimated that Americans throw away some 100 billion bags per year, which works out to about 6 or 7 bags per American per week. So next time you get that age-old question at the checkout stand, please think about this… each and every one of us can make a difference!

Cindy Landfills ban on plastic bags, cities ban plastic bags, disposable shopping bags, green living, paper or plastic, Recycling