Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume III, Issue
6, February 11,
2013
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
In the
United Kingdom (UK) a whole
lot of folks from industry,
from the agencies, and from
an array of environmental
associations have come to
an astounding conclusion.
If we know what is
happening to the waste we
collect, sort, separate,
and sell as recyclable
goodies, we can figure out
how to do the whole process
better, and how to keep
more of the resources AND
the money in the country.
Why? Because then we can
tell just how much is
staying, how much is
leaving, where it is going,
and what we have to do to
turn it back into goods
right where we
live.
"Recyclates":
that's the UK's great term
for waste in the process of
being recycled. The
machines that reprocess
what is separated work
better if the recyclates
are cleaner and the folks
that reprocess will pay
more for cleaner
recyclates. The more
"non-target" crud that is
mixed in, the more must be
thrown away on their end.
Some Materials Recovery
Facilities (MRF) do very
well at separating and
cleaning, others maybe
not so much. Tracking
what's coming in the front
door and where it's going
once it leaves a MRF can
also tell us how much
emissions attend getting
the recyclates to the
reprocessors. Then we start
to see where improvements
can be made, and lets us
shine a nice light on the
Champs that are already
doing Grade A
work.
If the
only thing tracked is the
raw tonnage of recyclates
being sold, nobody knows
how much of those
recyclates is being
recovered and turned back
into the raw materials
needed for remanufacturing.
We don't have a clue how
much non-usable "post
recycling residuals" is
being dumped by the
reprocessors. We can't
really prove we've actually
recycled anything; all we
can prove is we've shipped
our resources off to
someplace else, and paid
somebody to cart 'em off.
There's something else we
know from not keeping
track: we aren't the ones
with the reprocessing /
remanufacturing
jobs.
"Post Recycling Residuals"
right now refers to what's
left over after the
recyclate brokers pick out
the goodies, not what
ultimately gets dumped. The
machines that are needed to
Reprocess and complete the
Recycling pathway are often
the same kind of machines
that are then relegated to
do something with those
left-overs. We've been
calling those machines
Conversion Technologies
(CTs) and debating how to
control what left-overs to
feed them. The only real
difference is that with
off-shore Reprocessing we
don't see what
happens. At least if the
Reprocessing of Recyclates
is done under our communal
noses, we can make sure it
is done cleanly. If we
develop and run MRFs right,
and use the right
"reprocessing" waste
conversion machines, there
shouldn't be anything left
over. As with so many
things in our daily lives,
it’s up to the folks who
operate the technologies,
rather than some inherent
problem with the
tools.
Hey
Rube!
Food waste and plastics: those
are the top new types of Gold
in the Trash. Watch closely, as
the entire world refocuses
Recycling efforts right past
aluminum, glass, paper and
steel. And listen, as the old
word "Renewable" is being
replaced by the buzz,
"Sustainable" as the proper
goal of a civilized
society.
The
Week's News
WtEC and
Rank Progress form JV for
Polish and Croatian WtE
Projects
Thermal conversion company
Waste to Energy Canada (WtEC)
has announced its joint venture
with Rank Progress S.A. of
Legnica, Poland for sales,
marketing, and project
development of waste to energy
(WtE) processing facilities in
Poland and Croatia.
02/08/2013
Cyclone
Engine Will Undergo Testing
by OSU Center for Automotive
Research
Florida based Cyclone Power
Technologies has announced
entering into a cooperative
agreement with Ohio State
University's Center for
Automotive Research (OSU CAR)
for design testing and analysis
in support of commercialization
of the company's Waste Heat
driven Cyclone Engine.
02/08/2013
Industry
Leaders Launch Initiative to
Speed Up Biofuels Deployment
in Europe
A consortium of leading
aviation and biofuels companies
have announced the launch a new
initiative, "Leaders of
Sustainable Biofuels" intended
to speed up the deployment of
advanced sustainable biofuels
in Europe.
02/08/2013
RES
Polyflow's Polymer Waste to
Liquid Oil Plant Nears
Completion in
Ohio
Ohio based RES Polyflow has
announced that its first full
scale waste conversion
demonstration facility in
Cleveland, Ohio is nearing
completion and will be
operational this spring.
02/07/2013
US Clean
Energy Manufacturing
Projects Allocated $150MM in
Tax
Credits
The United States Departments
of the Treasury and Energy have
announced availability of $150
million in Internal Revenue
Service 48C Advanced Energy
Manufacturing Tax Credits for
clean energy and energy
efficiency manufacturing
projects in the US.
02/07/2013
PTG Wins
2012 Katerva Materials and
Resources Award for
Wastewater
CHP
California based Pasteurization
Technology Group (PTG) has
announced that it has been
selected as the overall winner
in the Minerals and Resources
category of the 2012 Katerva
Awards.
02/07/2013
SRI to
Demonstrate ElectraTherm
Waste Heat to Power
Technology for US
Navy
The Alabama-based Southern
Research Institute (SRI) has
announced that it will
demonstrate recovery of energy
for power generation from
low-grade waste heat using
Nevada-based ElectraTherm,
Inc's organic rankine cycle
(ORC) technology at the US
Naval Facility in Port Hueneme,
California.
02/06/2013
LanzaTech
Ranks on Forbes' Annual "100
Most Promising" Companies
List
The multi-national advanced
fuel company LanzaTech has
announced its selection by
Forbes Magazine as #48 among
the top "100 Most Promising"
privately held companies.
02/06/2013
Neste
Doubled Waste-Sourced
Feedstock for Bio-Oil
Production in
2012
Finland based Neste Oil has
announced that its use of
waste-sourced feedstock for
production of microbially
generated fuel oil more than
doubled in 2012 compared to
2011, rising from the previous
330,000 tons to last year's
742,000 tons.
02/05/2013
GESI Selects
IET Gasification System for
Canadian RR Tie to Power
Conversion
The Vancouver headquarters of
Green Energy Solution
Industries, Inc. (GESI) has
announced selection of Kentucky
based International
Environmental Technologies,
Inc. (IET) to provide the
gasification technology for its
waste to energy project in
Alberta, Canada.
02/05/2013
Synod
Residential AD Units Turn
Bangalore Kitchen Waste to
Biogas,
Fertilizer
The Times of India reports that
Kerala based Synod Bioscience
has developed, demonstrated,
and is marketing a residential
scale anaerobic digestion (AD)
module for biogas production in
response to the dual problem of
curtailed availability of
subsidized cooking gas
cylinders and a "garbage
crisis" in southern India.
02/04/2013
DEFRA
Releases Recycling Quality
Action Plan for
England
The United Kingdom (UK)
Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs
(DEFRA) has announced the
release of the "Quality Action
Plan: Proposals to promote high
quality recycling of dry
recyclates."
02/04/2013
The Week's Action
Items
Due
02/08/2013: Comments to CEC
on Biomethane RPS
Implementation
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
availability of a Staff Concept
Paper for implementation of AB
2196 (Chesbro), Chapter 605,
Stats. 2012; effective date
January 1, 2013.
02/04/2013
Due
02/25/2013: Biofuels
Proposals to Biofuels Center
of North
Carolina
The Biofuels Center of North
Carolina has announced release
of a solicitation targeting
specific biofuels development
goals and focused
geographically on western North
Carolina.
02/04/2013
Due
03/05/2013: Comments to CEC
on 2013 Integrated Energy
Policy
Forecasts
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
a workshop and is seeking
comments regarding Economic,
Demographic, and Energy Price
Inputs for Electricity, Natural
Gas, and Transportation Fuel
Demand Forecasts.
02/05/2013
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