With the rapid growth of our nation’s landfills and the sight of American trash being outsourced to third world countries, people are asking for other alternatives to waste disposal. One option that is proving to be an effective measure for removal of waste is waste-to-energy facilities. These facilities convert everyday trash into clean energy. These facilities are able to deliver clean, renewable electric power to utility companies for distribution to thousands of homes and businesses.

            The pioneer in this industry is a company called Wheelabrator Technologies. Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Wheelabrator designed, built, and operated the first commercially successful facility in 1975. Since then, it has set up 15 more sites to process waste into energy, including one in Bridgeport, CT.

            The Bridgeport site, located at 6 Howard Ave., currently processes up to 2,250 tons a day of municipal solid wasted from more than two dozen towns and cities in the Greater Bridgeport area. “We are permitted to process household municipal solid waste. Basically, what you bring out to the curb is what we process. We are not permitted to process construction and demolition material,” says plant manager Vincent Langone. This waste can be converted into enough energy to supply the electrical needs of 83,000 Connecticut homes.

By processing this waste that would normally be transported to a landfill, the Wheelabrator plant is able to reduce waste volume by 90% and generate clean, usable energy. “The remaining material is sorted, all ferrous and nonferrous material is recovered and recycled, and the remaining residuals are brought to a permitted ash monofill in Putnam, CT,” explains Langone.

            The process of converting waste into energy is done in a manner that creates very little pollution and does not create any more waste. Incoming trucks deliver trash to an enclosed reception area and dump the refuse into a concrete receiving pit. “We do not collect waste directly from residents. Most communities within the State have their own transfer station where residents can bring their waste. The waste from many of those transfer stations ends up at our facility,” explains Langone.

Overhead cranes then transfer the trash into massive boilers where the temperatures exceed 2,000° F. to ensure complete combustion. Surrounding the system are large utility-type power boilers that are designed to recover the thermal energy released during the combustion process. This energy is recovered in the form of high-pressure steam and is then converted into electrical energy in the turbine generator. The emissions are controlled by using absorbers, fabric filter baghouses, and activated carbon to control emissions in order to meet all current air-quality requirements.

            The technology that is used in waste-to-energy facilities helps create a sustainable energy system that significantly reduces independence on foreign oil supplies and ensures a safer environment for the future. Facilities like Wheelabrator are becoming a major part of a plan to not only reduce our waste but to also reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., making communities more sustainable and less harmful to the environment.