Title: [GreenYes] SWANA Wants Solid Waste Included As A Renewable Energy Source
When local governments assumed responsibility for "solid waste management" a
century ago, the "waste stream" consisted mostly of coal ash and food scraps
and a small amount of relatively simple manufactured products. Now it is
mostly products designed for the dump, many with toxic constituents.
Municipal waste management infrastructure is generally designed for large
quantities of homogeneous materials. The predominant discard management
activity is mixing and crushing potentially useful products and materials in
packer trucks and then trucking or rail-hauling them long distances to large
regional landfills or incinerators. Meanwhile, ample evidence demonstrates
that waste prevention, reuse and recycling saves far more energy than is
gained during incineration with energy recovery or is captured from landfill
gas.
>From this perspective, SWANA's embrace of energy recovery from mixed MSW is
a concession of defeat in its ability - and the ability of end-of-pipe
solutions -- to address the resource conservation goals of the 1980s and
1990s.
/Bill S
_____
SWANA Wants Solid Waste Included As A Renewable Energy Source
In late May, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) sent a
letter to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) requesting that waste be considered a
renewable energy source in pending legislation (S. 1115).
Senator Bingman is Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee and is drafting a renewable portfolio standard as part of the
Energy Proficiency and Promotion Act.
To be considered a renewable energy source, the source must be sustainable
and indigenous. SWAMA claims household solid waste is both.
According to SWANA Executive Director and CEO, John Skinner, the nation's
waste-to-energy facilities manage approximately 95,000 tons of household
solid waste per day and have an electric capacity of 2,700 megawatts.
|