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Teru Talk News

Teru Talk Newsletter

Volume III, Issue 26, July 1, 2013 
Teru Talk by Michael Theroux (pronounced "Terú")  

Teru's Trash Talk

Our industry is in process of rebranding itself. Nobody even wants to say the nasty word "waste" any more … it's "resource", or it's residuals or byproducts or anything but waste. It's "biomass", even when it isn't, even when most of that pile is anything but dead plant and animal stuff. Somehow Bio-Mass just doesn't seem so … dirty.

That naturally goes for "waste conversion" as well. OK, so if you don't like that phrase, let's call all these processes for converting waste to usable stuff "reconstituting" or reprocessing. And Teru Talk is as guilty as the rest. You don't wanna hear about the W-word? We're down with that; we get the "yuck" factor. We just want our dear readers to get the right idea, no matter what words are used: a duck by any other name still hasta cwaaak.

This is Big Stuff we're talking about now, figuring out what the proper buzz words are to use today. And we should have seen it coming, when almost overnight, trash collectors became Sanitation Engineers, pick-apart stations became Materials Recovery Facilities, and California's Waste Management Board became … CalRecycle. Just as a side note however, the DOE still calls it waste, as you can see from our Action Item below.

So it is good to remember our roots even while we rebrand ourselves as a cleaner, more genteel society. Just brokering MRF "recyclables" doesn't get the job done. Someone still has to get dirty handing it, and if we can't call that final reprocessing "waste conversion", we still have to tear those "recyclates" apart to make them into something new. The thing is, while we've been busy make up new terms for our ahhh, "resources", we've also been quite effective making sure those dirty "reconstituting" industries aren't in the golden state. Well great; we got just what we asked for: we don't have the local tools necessary to take care of our own mess. Besides that, we get stuck with the emissions from shipping those same "resources" half-way around the globe to somebody else's dirty home for reprocessing.

So cuss that devil Industry, and make up all the Happy Words so you feel better about the crud in the barrel out back. Just remember that to Own Our Own Waste like CalRecycle says we must, we are going to have to build our reprocessing and remanufacturing industrial infrastructure right here, among our communities.

Pay attention to the New Words for Old Things; they change every day. But when those who would lead us use them so freely, take the time to check for the underlying Truth. The new buzz words are often a smoke screen to distract us, to convince us that some lop-sided excuse for mismanagement is actually "the right thing to do." And the next time you are asked to consider allowing one of those (gasp!) waste conversion companies to build a recyclate reconstituting plant or resource reprocessing facility, brace yourself and give 'em a thumbs-up.

Hey Rube!

If you want a Real lesson in Word Play, dig into the rash of proposed bills being rushed through to beat the mid-July legislative clock. Once these clever word-smiths bury the Truth among the buzz words well enough for a bill to get the Governor's Okie Dokie, we're the ones who get to live with the results. Funny thing is, all our legislators have phone numbers and email addresses and every one of 'em is overly sensitive to being jumped on by their Constituents (that's you and me, dear reader).

The Week's Extra Reading

See Teru's new article on AB 32 AND THE WASTE MANAGEMENT SECTOR addressing California Recycling's Place in Greenhouse Gas Reduction. Also see Teru's comments to CalRecycle on the agency's draft plans.

The Week's News

NOTE: If you are using IE10 and our website isn't loading as smoothly as you would like or the page jumps when you click on a link to go to a certain news item, just change to "compatibility view" and all will be fine.

 

Progressive Waste Solutions Opens C&D Advanced MRF in Vaughn, Ontario

Canada based Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (PWS) has announced that it has opened its advanced waste reduction and resource recovery facility in Vaughn, Ontario. 06/29/2013

Xebec Commissions Second Biogas to CNG Plant in South Korea

Based in Quebec, Canada, Xebec Adsorption Inc. has announced commissioning of its second small-scale BXG biogas to compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel facility in South Korea. 06/29/2013

VTT Finland Collaborates with AU Government on Bioeconomy Study

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) has announced an agreement with the South Australian State Government to study potential routes for increasing the competitiveness of Australian forestry industry through enhancing and diversifying the country's bioeconomy. 06/26/2013

CalRecycle Hosts Workshops on Development of MRF Standards and BMPs

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has released a Public Notice for the third in a series of public workshops to address aspects of the development of best management practices (BMPs) and performance standards for materials recovery facilities (MRFs). 06/25/2013

CleanWorld Expands Capacity of Sacramento High-Solids AD Plant by 300%

Following successful demonstration and validation at 10,000 tons per year, California based CleanWorld has announced breaking ground for a 300% capacity expansion to 40,000 tons per year. 06/25/2013

OriginOil's Technology Selected for Fish Farm Wastewater to Algae Integration

Los Angeles based OriginOil has announced that its Electro Water Separation (EWS) technology has been selected by the Wyoming firm New Global Energy (NGE) as a key processing element in NGE's drive to acquire and restart idle fish farming operations in the Coachella Valley region of Southern California. 06/25/2013

USAID Provides $100MM Investment Guarantee for Clean Energy in India

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that it will partner with US based institutional investor Northern Lights Capital Group to facilitate a $100 million investment in India’s clean energy sector via Nereus Capital. 06/25/2013

WELTEC BIOPOWER Altmark AD Plant Selling Biogas to Regional Grid

Germany based WELTEC Biopower has announced that its 70,000 tonne per year anaerobic digestion (AD) combined heat and power (CHP) plant is now through all testing and has begun injecting upgraded biomethane into the regional natural gas grid infrastructure. 06/25/2013

The Week's Action Items

Due 07/15/2013: Comments to US DOE on State of Sustainable Waste to Energy

The US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Exchange Program has released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public and private stakeholder input regarding the state of technology development and commercial readiness of emerging waste to energy (WTE) technologies. 06/29/2013

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Featured Events:
8th Annual
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September
18-19, 2013
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Recommended Reading:

"Waste-to-Energy, Second Edition: Technologies
and Project Implementation" by Marc J Rogoff and Francois Screve

Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Conversion Processes: Economic, Technical, and Renewable Comparisons by Gary C Young

"Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Conversion Processes: Economic, Technical, and Renewable Comparisons" by Gary C Young

 

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Teru Talk is an online publication of JDMT, Inc with the goal of opening the dialogue and providing current news and commentary on issues and successes associated with waste conversion to renewable energy, biofuels and other bio-based products for resource recovery.

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The Teru Talk Newsletter is published weekly or more or less frequently, primarily depending on what is going on in the world of waste conversion or ours.