Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
24, June 11,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
When we "Recycle", we
divert something headed for
disposal and put that
something back into the
mainstream of useful goods.
We think that is what
happens when we put
recognizable thingies in
the blue recycling bin
instead of the black trash
can. There! I've Recycled!
Not so fast there, folks.
Removing something from the
constant flow of garbage on
its way to the landfill (or
into the ocean) is a good
start and sure makes us
feel better, but unless
that loop gets closed,
unless that recyclable
actually becomes useful
again, we're just shuffling
trash. Until that can is
thermally converted to
molten metal, until that
newsprint is pulped,
bleached, pressed and
dried, the job's not done.
Someone somewhere has to
employ Conversion
Technologies, be it
Thermal, Kinetic or
Microbial in nature, to
deconstruct the stuff we've
carefully recovered from
the dumpster and turn it
back into useful
commodities to finish the
job of
Recycling.
International Trade is a
wonderful, vibrant thing,
and many countries rely
heavily on shipping stuff
elsewhere for their very
survival. Follow that
flattened can, that broken
bottle, that stack of
newspapers and see where
they go. Chances are they
DON'T go to an in-state
reprocessing plant (Heavens
no! Those industries are
Dirty!) Much of the
California Recycling
Industry would dry up and
blow away if those
mountains of crumpled,
cruddy plastic couldn't be
sold to processing plants
overseas, if those drums of
broken glass couldn't find
their way to the cheap
labor deep in
Mexico.
Recycling
is easier to understand
when what we Recycle is a
recognizable thingie. Less
so, when it looks like
nothing more than the gooey
crud at the bottom of the
trash can. But that gooey
stuff can be recycled too,
into energy, into
chemicals, into fuels.
Those crumpled dirty
plastics that don't have
just the right little
symbol on their round
bottom? Their molecules can
be pulled apart and
recovered, turning that
"waste" back into things we
need that didn't have to
come from Syria under armed
guard. Isn't that true
Recycling? Construction
began on an Organic Waste
Recycling Center in
Sacramento last week.
Anaerobic digestion of food
waste: conversion of that
gooey crud back into useful
vehicle fuel. When you set
aside a bucket of food
waste instead of mixing it
into the common trash, Good
Job: that is the very Front
End of Recycling, granted.
But when you get around to
using Conversion
Technologies to turn that
gooey waste back into
something you really need,
that's Recycling, too …
just the other end of the
same cow.
Hey
Rube!
The UK is
struggling with one part
of this question right
now. See our News Item
about their Resource
Association's attempt to
track and disclose to
their citizenry where
their recycled goodies
actually go for
reprocessing. Yet nothing
is simple. Dr Simon
Ellin, chief executive of
the Recycling
Association, asked, “Do
the general public really
want to know which
specific UK, Chinese,
Indian or Indonesian
mills their cardboard or
newspapers may end up
at?”
What
do you
think?
Do you really want to
know?
The
Week's News
California's
Proposed AB 2390 Would Boost
Community-Scale
Biopower
California
Assembly member Wesley
Chesbro's Assembly Bill AB 2390
reached the Senate this week,
after introduction of the
proposed legislation last
February. 06/09/2012
Clean World Partners Constructs
Food Waste Digester in South
Sacramento
Sacramento-based
renewable energy development
company Clean World Partners
announced the start of
construction of its Organic
Waste Recycling Center, a two
stage, phased-solids anaerobic
digestion facility with an
integrated biogas vehicle
filling station.
06/09/2012
Viridor Consults Public on
Glasgow Recycling &
Renewable Energy
Centre
United Kingdom
waste management and resource
recovery firm Viridor has
announced the start of an
extended public consultation
campaign for its proposed
redevelopment of the Polmadie
waste treatment plant.
06/09/2012
Enerkem
Starts Waste to Biofuel
Production at Quebec Demo
Plant
Canadian
gasification specialist Enerkem
has announced the start of
ethanol production from waste
at its Westbury, Quebec
demonstration facility.
06/08/2012
Presentations
Online from CalRecycle's
"Digesting Urban Organic
Residuals"
The California Department of
Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle)
has
posted
speaker's presentations
from
its Digesting
Urban Organics Residuals
(DUOR)
forum held May 30, 2012
in Sacramento.
06/07/2012
GoBiGas
Biomass Gasification Demo
Plant Under Construction in
Sweden
Western Sweden's leading energy
company,
Göteborg
Energi , has provided
a short video
(with English
subtitles) as the first in a
series showing construction of
the first stage of the GoBiGas
plant in the Rya harbor in
Gothenburg, Sweden.
06/07/2012
Citizens in
the United Kingdom Will Soon
Know Where the Recycling
Goes
The Resource
Association, the United
Kingdom's recycling industry
organization, announced the
official launch today of a
voluntary recycling industry
charter to provide the public
with a clearer picture of where
their recycled materials
ultimately end up.
06/07/2012
BIOX Secures
New York Harbor Site for 26
Million GPY Biodiesel
Plant
Canadian
biodiesel producer BIOX
Corporation has signed
agreements with
International-Matex Tank
Terminals (IMTT), owners of a
600 acre New York Harbor
shipping terminal in Bayonne,
New Jersey.
06/06/2012
Dynamic
Energy Licenses Pyrolysis
for Texas Tire to Fuel
Energy
Campus
Memphis based
Dynamic Energy Alliance
Corporation (DEAC) has
announced that its wholly-owned
intellectual property
subsidiary Dynamic Energy IP,
LLC has signed definitive
agreements for exclusive
world-wide licensing rights to
pyrolytic technology from
R.F.B., LLC of Prairie Village,
Kansas. 06/06/2012
Xebec
Receives $2MM Purchase Order
for Hydrogen Purification
System
Canadian gas
cleaning and upgrading company
Xebec has announced a CAD $2.05
million purchase order for its
H-3200 fast-cycle Pressure
Swing Adsorption (PSA) hydrogen
(H2) purification unit.
06/06/2012
DSM Enzymes
for Cellulosic Ethanol
Passes Tests in DONG
-Inbicon
Trials
Netherlands'
materials science company Royal
DSM has announced that trials
of its cellulosic ethanol
enzyme package have been
successfully completed in DONG
Energy - Inbicon's 1.5 million
gallon per year
demonstration-scale biorefinery
in Kalundborg, Denmark.
06/06/2012
Flint Hills
Becomes Customer After
Investing in EdeniQ in Joint
Relationship
Based in
Visalia, California, EdeniQ has
announced that Flint Hills
Resources ethanol-producing
Renewables division will now
become a customer and as well
as an investor in what the
companies describe as a joint
development relationship.
06/05/2012
Purdue
Researchers: Fast Pyrolysis
to H2Bioil Close to
Economical
The Purdue
University Newsroom reports
that a research team led by
Rakesh Agrawal has successfully
developed a fast pyrolysis
technology platform for
production of biofuels that
appears it can be
cost-effective at production
scale. 06/05/2012
Five
Industry Leaders Form
Collaborative for 100%
Plant-Based Plastics
(PET
Five
international corporate leaders
have announced formation of a
new collaborative focused on
accelerating the development
and use of 100% plant-based
plastics and fibers.
06/05/2012
USDA
Announces Committee to
Advise on New Forest
Planning Rule
Roll-Out
The Forest
Service has announced the
selection of 21 members to
serve on the National Advisory
Committee for implementation of
the National Forest System Land
Management Planning Rule
(Forest Planning Rule).
06/05/2012
EPA's 2012
SBIR Phase 1 Awards Support
Four Bioenergy Research
Projects
The US
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) announced twenty-five
Small Business Innovative
Research (SBIR) Phase 1 awards
totaling over $2 million, with
each grantee receiving up to
$80,000. 06/04/2012
Governor
Supports Plasco Salinas
Valley Waste Gasification
Project
The June 1,
2012 letter from Governor Jerry
Brown's Executive Secretary
Nancy McFadden to Plasco Energy
Group has essentially rescinded
the rescission notice sent to
Plasco last week by CalRecycle
Director Caroll Mortensen.
06/04/2012
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