Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 35, August
31,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Let’s consider another of those
wonderful global catch-phrases:
the concept of Zero
Waste.
C’mon, we’re Humans, and one of
the things we do is Waste.
Wasting things is a species
trait, one the species is not
about to stop doing any time
soon. With 40,000 tons a day of
trash being generated in our
great metropoli, indications
are that as long as there is
Input there will be Output. The
question then is, what should
we do about it? Well,
everything we can,
obviously.
The first puzzle piece is
always Education. We have to
keep reminding everyone around
us (and ourselves included)
that things we don't want
anymore are not inherently
Waste, just Old Resources. But
to actually change behavior
(and here’s another buzz word)
we must Empower folks: we all
need to know what to do, that
we can do what’s needed, and
that what we do matters. A
recent national survey found
about half of us didn’t
understand Recycling: we don’t
mind doing it, but we really
couldn’t say what happens next.
Resource recovery is too
complex; we mostly just want
our trash to Go
Away.
That problem calls for programs
fit to community habits and
structure, transparent programs
that show the bad with the good
and where we all need to be
headed. We can’t just
say we want Zero Waste
like it actually meant
something; the public needs
proof, or all that agencies can
expect to get in return is
"Yeah, right." The community
needs to bear witness to what
happens when we Waste, and see
local examples of the path
toward Resource Recovery. What!
There are no “local examples”?
Ah – that’s a far bigger
problem: very limited local
infrastructure.
Waste-to-dump infrastructure is
in place in most developed
areas. Community resource
recovery is generally limited
to Collect-Sort-Sell, not a
message that encourages
engagement. The only benefit
folks can see is their trash
going away, with a little money
funneled back to a few
companies and the agencies that
permit them. That’s old Policy:
make the Nasty Trash go away.
So now we need New Policy: Keep
the Local Resources local. See
any problem with
that?
Anyone remember when Paper
Recycling started? Communities
ended up with huge, molding
piles of used newspaper, with
no way to even move them
except to pay for disposal. Few
communities incorporate diverse
local remanufacturing; in fact,
most plants that make new stuff
from the raw resources
reclaimed from old stuff have
always been relegated to “way
over there”, out of sight and
mind, out of the community of
origin and most often out of
country. So add to that Zero
Waste Path the need to build
clean, community-centric
remanufacturing
complexes.
What kind
of remanufacturing plants can
best close the gap in a
community’s Zero Waste Path to
resource recovery? Well, we
need to understand two key
factors: what’s in the old
stuff that the community
tosses, and what sort of new
goods the community needs.
Study the natural flow of
commerce, and fill in the
missing elements: each
Community’s characteristic
unwanted Old Resource Output is
very closely related to its
desired New Resource
Input.
Hey Rube!
Teru’s
gonna speak on this Zero Waste
stuff at the 2015 SCWMF
Waste Management
Conference in November.
It's a simple seeming
concept, this business of
Zero Waste, but terribly
challenging to implement.
Let’s all chew on this idea
for
awhile.
This Week's Top Story
PHGE Is
Contracted Build
Waste-To-Energy Facility in
East
Tennessee
Sevier Solid Waste, Inc (SSWI)
of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has
contracted with PHG Energy
(PHGE) to build a $2.25 million
biomass gasification plant
capable of cleanly converting
more than 30 tons of composted
material daily into thermal
energy while producing a
valuable high-carbon biochar.
08/28/2015
The Week's News
Ensyn
Receives Key US EPA
Regulatory Approval for its
Renewable
Diesel
Ensyn Corporation (Ensyn), has
announced that the US
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has granted Ensyn a key
regulatory approval for its
renewable diesel product,
RFDiesel.
08/28/2015
US DOE
Awards $9M to Improve
Feedstock Supplies for
Bioenergy
Facilities
The US Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced the award
of up to $9 million for the
design of sustainable bioenergy
systems that maintain or
enhance the environmental and
socio-economic sustainability
of cellulosic bioenergy through
the improvement of feedstock
production, logistics systems,
and technology development.
08/27/2015
Biomass
Projects Qualify for Ontario
IESO's Large Renewable
Procurement
The Independent Electricity
System Operator (IESO) of
Ontario, Canada has released
the list of renewable energy
projects proposed by companies
pre-qualified to participate in
the Large Renewable Procurement
(LRP).
08/27/2015
Noble
Purification Schedules
Launch of Euglena
Bio-Filtration Pilot
Plant
The Greater Peterborough
Innovation Cluster (GPIC) has
announced that the grand
opening of the Noble
Purification Inc.
bio-filtration plant in
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada,
will be on Tuesday, September
01, 2015.
08/26/2015
Webinar on
Wood Pellet Production in US
Through Co-Firing Industrial
Pellets
World Bio Markets is hosting a
free webinar to share insight
and knowledge around the topic
of “Capitalising on lessons
learnt from Europe and
exploring the long term
potential for wood pellet
production in the USA through
co-firing industrial pellets.”
08/26/2015
Australian
Researchers Find that Grape
Waste Could Make Competitive
Biofuel
University of Adelaide
researchers have found that
solid waste left over from
wine-making could make a
competitive biofuel.
08/24/2015
DECC
Releases Guidance for 400MW
Cap on New Dedicated Biomass
Projects
United Kingdom's Department of
Energy & Climate Change
(DECC) has introduced a cap of
400MW on the total new build
dedicated biomass capacity in
England and Wales that can
expect grandfathered support
under the Renewables Obligation
(RO).
08/24/2015
Global
Bioenergies' Isobutene
Process Successfully Uses
Wood
Sugar
French company Global
Bioenergies has announced that
it has produced isobutene by
fermentation based exclusively
on xylose (wood sugar) as a
feedstock.
08/24/2015
New Zealand
WWTP Installs Biological
Sulfur Removal, Increases
Capacity
Oregon based Clean Methane
Systems LLC (CMS) has announced
its selection to supply the
biogas conditioning system for
the Rosedale Wastewater
Treatment Plant's (WWTP) new
biological sulfur removal
system and upgrade of its
biogas to electricity output to
1,200kW.
08/24/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
09/11/2015: Suggestions for
CalRecycle 2016 Disposal,
Recycling
Reports
In its last monthly meeting,
the California Department of
Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) solicited
public suggestions for new
topics to be added to the 2016
State of Disposal and State of
Recycling in California reports
currently under development.
08/27/2015
Due
10/19/2015: LOIs from
Potential Tenants for Austin
[re]Manufacturing
Hub
The City of Austin, Texas has
set a goal to reach zero waste
by 2040 and already has a
robust collection and sorting
infrastructure for recycling
with three single-stream
Materials Recovery Facilities
(MRFs) in the region, an
above-average diversion rate,
and new regulations requiring
businesses and apartment
complexes to recycle.
08/27/2015
Due
10/23/2015: Public Comment
to DECC's Proposed Feed-in
Tariff
Plans
The United Kingdom's (UK)
Department of Energy &
Climate Change (DECC) is
seeking public comment and has
released a report detailing the
opening of public consultation
on its proposed Feed-in Tariff
(FIT) scheme.
08/28/2015
|