INCINERATOR INDUSTRY

UPDATE

July 2006

UNITED STATES

            HAWAII

Big Island Plans to Build Incinerator in Hilo

Hawaii County plans to build an incinerator in Hilo that would start burning East Hawaii's garbage in four years.

The county has been looking for trash-disposal solutions because its Hilo landfill — one of two on the Big Island — must be closed well before a replacement will be ready for use.

The Hilo dump would already be full if not for the county's recent, eleventh-hour move to delay closure a couple of years by packing trash around its sides.

County solid waste officials and a team of mainland experts have selected three finalists from among 12 companies bidding to build the incinerator.

Covanta Energy Corporation, L-Con Constructors and Wheelabrator Technologies Incorporated will be asked to submit their ideas for an incinerator design by October.

            ILLINOIS

Hinsdale Hospital to Shutdown its Incinerator

Four years before an agreed deadline, Adventist Hinsdale Hospital will shut down its medical waste incinerator.

The hospital, one of only two in the Chicago area that has continued to operate a waste incinerator, pledged to shut the system down after heavy lobbying from community residents and Hinsdale officials.

Hinsdale and Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood both agreed last year to discontinue use of their incinerators by 2010, but Hinsdale residents, spurred by the Midwest Chapter of the Sierra Club, petitioned their Village Board last fall to push for an earlier closing.

With the State of Illinois outlawing the filling of landfills with hazardous medical waste in the late 1970s, many hospitals turned to incineration. However, with ongoing research identifying potential problems associated with the process, the number of incinerators has been reduced dramatically in the State and throughout the nation.

Hospital officials said Thursday that they agreed to close the incinerators early to maintain a good relationship with the community. It cost the hospital $500,000 in renovations and more than $400,000 to contract removal of the waste to Medical Waste Solutions, officials said.

            NEW YORK

Residents Voice Opposition over Incinerator Construction Plans in West Babylon

Opponents of a plan to construct an incinerator at the Bergen Point Sewage Treatment plant in West Babylon, NY made their case before the Suffolk County Legislature.

While funding for a new incinerator is not in next year's capital budget, it had been included in the previous year's budget and withdrawn this year only after S.C. Exec. Steve Levy moved to review the feasibility of privatizing that project. The change brought the project to the public's attention and raised a tremendous amount of opposition and anger within the West Babylon and neighboring communities. In response, Levy put plans for both a county and privately-owned incinerator on hold and directed that a study be conducted to find alternative methods of disposing of the more than 8,000 tons of sludge generated at the plant every year-sludge that is now hauled off of Long Island to landfills in states as far away as Ohio at a cost of approximately $5 million a year.

            WASHINGTON

Nuclear Incinerator Torn Down at Plutonium Finishing Plant in Hanford

The incinerator at the Plutonium Finishing Plant in Hanford, WA has been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Workers finished demolition of the building Monday, after spending more than two years cleaning out enough debris and contaminated equipment to allow the building to be torn down safely.

From 1963 to 1972, the incinerator was used to burn items such as protective clothing, filters, gloves and cartons that had been contaminated. Then plutonium was recovered from the ashes. The flighty ash left it one of the most contaminated buildings at the Plutonium Finishing Plant.

The incinerator building was contaminated with about 1,300 grams of plutonium when cleanup began, but workers removed enough debris and equipment to reduce contamination to less than a gram of plutonium before demolition began. A fixative then was applied to the walls.

Work began June 11 to tear down the building using a hydraulic shear. Air monitors were used around the perimeter of the demolition site and misters kept any potentially contaminated dust under control.

Some of the equipment from the incinerator has enough plutonium contamination that it must be sent to a national repository in New Mexico. But other material will be buried at a landfill for low-level radioactive waste at Hanford.

            WISCONSIN

Barron County Fined Due to Incinerator Non-Compliance

Representatives from Barron County, the Department of Justice and the Department of Natural Resources met July 10 to see if an agreement among the parties could be reached regarding the county incinerator's alleged 80 days of non-compliance with federal air quality standards.

The county will end up paying a fine, but it is unclear as to how much. The maximum penalty allowed by law is $25,000 per day of violation with a cap at $200,000 in most cases. An agreement would probably lower the total fine to between $10,000 and $25,000.

Barron Considers Legal Action to Require Trash to be Incinerated

The Barron, WI County Board of Supervisors considered a possible ordinance that would mandate that county solid waste be directed to Barron County’s Waste to Energy Plant near Almena. The City Council met in closed session to consider fighting that proposal in court.

Among the issues is the cost of garbage hauling and disposal in the city. Under the current system, most city garbage is hauled to the incinerator at Almena, but some council members believe the city can get a better deal by having the garbage hauled to the BFI landfill at Sarona.

Tipping rates at the incinerator are $38 per ton. Local landfill rates vary by contract, but can be $25 per ton or lower.

Although all municipalities in the county are supposed to direct their waste to the incinerator, the county ordinance would make it mandatory that the waste continues to go to the facility to maintain the plant’s viability. The measure was suggested by Glen Anderson, who is a part of the incinerator management team, ZAC, which operates the plant in Almena.

The county believes it has authority to control the waste under state statute, which states that if a county has a facility to convert waste to energy, it can adopt an ordinance that requires waste to be directed to the facility. Energy from the incinerator is used to operate a cheese plant.

Snyder said that while all of the city’s garbage is supposed to go to the incinerator, actually less than half goes to the incinerator because the incinerator can’t handle the amounts of waste generated in the county. Snyder wrote that the city generated about 8,000 tons of residential and commercial garbage in 2004, with only about 2,500 tons of that going to the incinerator. The remainder was diverted to the BFI landfill near Sarona.

CANADA

Two Councils Endorse Plan for Incinerator for York and Durham Trash

York and Durham politicians have endorsed a plan to build an incinerator to burn the thousands of tonnes of trash that remain after recycling. York currently ships its residual waste to landfills in Michigan and St. Thomas. Durham also uses Michigan dumpsites. But politicians in both regions were concerned over a recent move by Michigan legislators to close the American border to Canadian garbage.

So York and Durham teamed up to explore a joint way to dispose of waste left over after recycling and consultants recommended incineration. York politicians endorsed the consultant's report by 18-0; one day after Durham council approved the proposal.

Once up and running by 2011, the incinerator could produce enough energy to power up to 200,000 households. The cost of incineration ranges from $125 to $150 a tonne. Sending the trash to Michigan costs $60 to $70 a tonne. York sends about 222,000 tonnes of waste every year to landfills. Another 104,500 tonnes is recycled through blue box and green bin programs. Durham trucks about 145,000 tonnes to Michigan annually and diverts an additional 83,000 tonnes through recycling.

INTERNATIONAL

IRELAND

Planning Permission Sought for Waste-to-Energy Incinerator on Poolbeg Penninsula

Planning permission was sought today for an incinerator on Dublin’s Poolbeg Peninsula designed to provide electricity for 50,000 homes and heat 60,000 houses.

Dublin City Council confirmed it had applied on behalf of four local authorities for permission to provide a waste to energy facility to treat up to 600,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The waste plan for the region aims to recycle 59% of the area’s waste and to landfill just 16% by 2013. The remaining 25% of waste would be thermally treated through incineration.

“By diverting 600,000 tonnes of waste per annum away from landfill about eight acres of valuable land per annum will be available for other purposes,” Matt Twomey, assistant city manager, Dublin City Council, said.

“Waste to energy incinerators operated to strict EU requirements are proven to be safe, tried and tested, are in operation across Europe including most capital cities and are associated with high rates of recycling.”

Residents of Ringsend, Sandymount and Irishtown have been holding protests over the last number of months against the siting of the incinerator on the 5.5 hectare/13.6 acre site on Poolbeg Peninsula in Dublin 4.

MALAYSIA

Government Still Considering Incinerator in Broga

The Government is still studying the possibility of building an incinerator in Broga, Semenyih, near here, to manage and treat solid waste.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the Cabinet had previously discussed the incinerator project in Broga and other alternatives that could save money and be safe for the environment. He told reporters that the Government would reconsider building the incinerator if there were other environment-friendly alternatives with low maintenance cost.

Local residents opposed the plans to build the incinerator in Broga.

Perak Will Build Incinerator only with Government Help

Perak will not build an incinerator, an alternative waste disposal system to the landfill, unless it gets a federal government allocation for the cost exceeds RM1 billion.

Perak Local Government and Municipalities Committee Chairman Datuk Chang Ko Youn said although incineration was an effective technology to dispose waste and helped solve river pollution, the cost was exorbitant.

Incineration is a method of burning refuse at a very high temperature, converting the waste into harmless gases released to the atmosphere and residual ashes.

Following a directive of the Cabinet Committee on Solid Waste Management on April 28, he said, the state government would find a dumping site to replace a landfill site that had caused pollution to the environment and a river. Chang said a study had to be conducted to determine the suitability of a new site and this would take time.

MALTA

EU Commissioner Intervenes in Debate about Incinerator – Must Comply with EU Emissions Directive

Environment European Commissioner Stavros Dimas will be "registering an official complaint" about St Luke's Hospital's incinerator and promised to raise the issue with the Maltese authorities.

In a letter to Labour MEP Joseph Muscat, the commissioner explained that since December member states have been required to ensure that all waste incineration plants operate in accordance with the emission limit values and other standards laid down in an EU directive on the incineration of waste.

"The Commission is therefore now in a position to take action in relation to any alleged non-compliance with this directive," Mr Dimas wrote.

Mr Muscat said the 70-year-old incinerator was considered technologically inefficient, and was negatively affecting both the residents' health and the environment.

UNITED KINGDOM

FCC Buys Waste Recycling Group Creating Third Largest Waste Management Company in Europe- Projects Continue in Hull, Norwich and Nottingham

The sale of Waste Recycling Group's landfill and municipal services to Spanish utilities giant FCC came just a few days after the company submitted a planning application for an incinerator in Hull.

After the agreed sale of the company, ownership of WRG is not expected to pass to the Spanish firm before October. A spokesman for WRG said that there was "no reason to imagine that anything will change" with current projects being undertaken by WRG under its new ownership.

The brand-new Allington incinerator in Kent is part of the sale to Spanish firm FCC. 

WRG submitted a planning application for a 240,000 tonne capacity incinerator in Hull at the end of June, the firm is seeking permission for an incinerator in Norwich and an extension to its incinerator in Nottingham.

The firm is also preferred bidder for a Private Finance Initiative contract with three councils in Berkshire and is one of two companies shortlisted for a long-term waste disposal contract with Cumbria county council.

City financier Guy Hands is set to make as much as £1 billion in profit for his investment group, Terra Firma, with the announced sale of Waste Recycling Group. Mr. Hands, who left Japanese bank Nomura to form his private equity group, purchased WRG for £531 million in 2003. He then sank a further £450 million in the company – including the acquisition of the landfill assets of Shanks Group for £228 million.

The sale of the company for £1.4 billion does not include WRG's landfill gas business, likely to be sold separately later this year valued at between £200 million and £700 million. However, the sale does include 210 million cubic meters of landfill capacity at 60 landfill sites. This is estimated to represent about 35% of consented landfill in the UK.

WRG currently handles about 15 million tonnes of domestic and industrial waste each year with its landfills and an expanding energy-from-waste incineration business.

It is thought by analysts that the acquisition of WRG could see FCC becoming the third largest waste management operator in Europe, though much smaller in size than Veolia or SITA.

Among WRG's municipal activities is a 25-year contract with Hull city council, under which the company is now making another attempt to gain permission to build an incinerator. An earlier attempt to win approval was ultimately rejected by the government, but the proposal for a site at Salt End has been reduced in size.

Elsewhere, WRG's £10 million incinerator at Allington, Kent, has just started operating this summer. The plant can handle about 500,000 tonnes of material each year under WRG's contract with the county council.

WRG is seeking to build an incinerator at the Longwater Industrial Estate near Norwich, under a 25-year deal with the county council to process 150,000 tonnes of residual waste per annum. The controversial project has already encountered strong local opposition.

The company is also aiming to expand its oldest incinerator, the Eastcroft plant at Nottingham, which was built in the 1970s, to add a third line. This would see the 150,000 tonne annual capacity expanded by a further 100,000 tonnes.

Hull

240,000 Tonne Incinerator Proposed for Hull and East Riding

Developers say they are "quietly confident" of getting plans for a huge incinerator that will dominate the skyline for miles around passed by local authorities.

Three years after the Government threw out plans for an incinerator in Foster Street, Hull, a planning application has now gone in to Hull and East Riding Councils for a similar facility just off Hedon Road. Visible from the other side of the river, it will have a stack of 95m (311ft) – higher than BP's cooling towers at Saltend – and could produce 22 different pollutants from nitrogen dioxide to particulates.

The incinerator is meant to burn 240,000 tonnes of household waste, producing electricity for about 30,000 homes.

According to the application, the amount of pollutants added to air will be "tiny" and will meet all air quality standards. Tests to judge long-term exposure to heavy metals, dioxins and furans concluded they did not "pose unacceptable risks to the identified receptors".

Although Waste Recycling Group (WRG), which would build and operate the plant, insists it is not looking at importing waste, the application reveals that may not always be the case. It states: "Should the input of waste to the energy from waste facility be less than projected, surplus capacity will be available for suitable non-hazardous waste." However, Hull and East Riding waste "will have precedence." On the same site WRG wants to build a facility to take 38,000 tonnes of recyclable paper, metal and glass a year – with anything considered unrecyclable going into the incinerator.

Norwich

WRG to Build £90 Million Incinerator in Norwich
Norfolk County Council wants the Waste Recycling Group (WRG) to build a £90 million 80ft incinerator at the Longwater Industrial Estate in Costessey to reduce the county's waste put into landfills.

It had been claimed the plan to build the incinerator was in danger because Drayton-based builder RG Carter had a covenant on the land allotted for the plant restricting it to recycling and WRG was struggling to buy more land for its operation. However, now the council has confirmed WRG as its choice to build the plant, which is scheduled to open by 2009/10.

If Norfolk does not cut its use of landfill, it could face hefty fines from the Government in the future.

Nottingham

Nottingham Plans to Expand Incinerator

  Efforts to set up a public inquiry into plans to expand an incinerator in Nottingham have been defeated. Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors had wanted a review of the proposed third furnace at Eastcroft. But at a council meeting, a Labour amendment effectively blocked moves towards an inquiry.

The plans, to raise the amount of waste burnt from 150,000 to 250,000 tonnes each year, will go to the Development Control Committee in September.

Waste firm WRG wants to add a third furnace to the facility at a cost of £50m.

Cornwall
 

Cornwall Votes to Sign PFI Contract with SITA
Cornwall county council has voted to sign its Private Finance Initiative waste contract with preferred bidder SITA UK.

The vote came this morning in a full meeting of the council, giving full agreement to plans by SITA to manage around 330,000 tonnes of municipal waste produced each year in Cornwall over the next 30 years.

The contract, backed by £45 million in government PFI credits, will include the development of an energy-from-waste incinerator to process about 240,000 tonnes of residual waste each year.

But the county council said if the incinerator runs short of household waste – if recycling rates increases – SITA will be allowed to use it for commercial or industrial waste. The company is not permitted to bring waste in from outside county boundaries for treatment.

Bexley
 

Government Approval of Bexley Incinerator Causes Controversy

Residents are furious at the Government's decision to give the go-ahead to the controversial plan to build an incinerator in Bexley.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks's announcement that the plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in Belvedere would go ahead was met with anger from residents.

Bexley and Districts Against Incinerator Risks asked Bexley Council to ask for a judicial review of Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks' decision to allow Riverside Resource Recovery Ltd to build the rubbish-to-energy incinerator.

Processing an average of 585,000 tonnes of waste each year over a three-decade period, the plant proposed for a site on the River Thames could become Europe's largest energy-from-waste incinerator.

The Belvedere incinerator is being built to treat household waste generated by four central London boroughs – Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Wandsworth and Lambeth – as part of Cory Environmental's 30-year contract with the Western Riverside Waste Authority.

An important part of the project – which is thought to have been a major reason for its ultimate approval – is the intention of Cory to use the River Thames, rather than London's congested roads, to transport waste to the plant.

Bexley council, which sends some of its collected waste to the SELCHP incinerator in neighboring Lewisham, is objecting to the Belvedere project on the grounds that waste would be brought in from outside the borough for treatment.

It is feared the burner's emissions will endanger health. Opponents of the scheme include Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who believes the incinerator will discourage recycling, MPs, politicians, and community group BADAIR, which has campaigned against the plan since it was first considered in 1991.

Many campaigners hoped the Government would opt for one of the new technologies, which are considered safer. But Mr. Wicks said the decision had been based on the inspector's reports from the public inquiry and an awareness of the "pressing" need for additional ways, apart from recycling, to tackle Greater London's waste and reduce land-fill.

Rainworth
 

Veolia Proposes Site for Nottinghamshire Incinerator in Rainworth
Veolia Environmental Services has proposed a site for a new energy recovery plant for its Nottinghamshire PFI waste contract. The company said it hopes to construct a new incinerator at Rufford Colliery, near Rainworth, to be operational in 2012.

The Rufford Colliery site has been chosen for the incinerator project for its good transport links. The plant would be capable of dealing with about 180,000 tonnes of residual waste every year – about 35% of the household waste produced in Nottinghamshire. The plant would recover energy from the waste processed to generate 15MW of electrical energy – the equivalent of enough electricity to power 15,000 homes.

Veolia signed its 26-year Private Finance Initiative-backed integrated waste contract with Nottinghamshire last month. The £850 million contract requires Veolia to increase county recycling rates from the current 31% rate up to 52%, with the incinerator to be used for waste left over from recycling and composting.

Veolia said the Rufford Colliery site had been selected after a number of locations were considered. The site was seen as appropriate for its close proximity to the source of the waste input, good transport links and because the ex-colliery site already has a history of resource recovery and waste management.

A planning application is expected to be submitted in late 2007.

Bradden
 

Incinerator Exceeds Emissions Limit in Braddan

The incinerator has pumped out more hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide than is allowed 51 times this year. It has also been revealed that equipment failures and leaks were among the reasons the facility in Richmond Hill, Braddan, was shut for 26 days.

Local Government and the Environment Minister John Rimington said operation of the plant stopped on five occasions. One occasion was for 16 days of planned maintenance, but there were also two shutdowns to deal with a grate system failure, one for a high-pressure steam leak and one for an analyzer problem.

However, he said the plant remained 'available' during the shutdowns, as it was able to accept waste, and therefore the agreement between the DLGE and site operator SITA were not breached.

Mr. Rimington added there have been 29,000 samples of emissions and incinerator limits were exceeded for hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide 51 times. However, he said on no occasion was the facility's waste license terms broken.

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