Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 48,
December 7,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"TerĂº")
Teru's Trash Talk
We can recycle now in as many
ways as there are kinds of
things in trash. We can turn
like-to-like, as making old
bottles back into new bottles.
We can recycle parts of old
things into being parts of new
things. And we can take
materials apart right down to
their molecules, then
reconstitute and remanufacture
those miniscule molecules back
into commodities. That's called
Molecular Recycling, an
all-important stage of
maintaining the circular flow
from Old Stuff back into New
Stuff.
But sometimes even molecular
recycling isn't appropriate.
There's a puncture proof Sharps
container in every hospital
emergency room, and each has a
notice on it that says very
clearly, For Incineration Only.
When seeing what goes into
those containers, we can all
agree that the stuff really
shouldn't be recycled.
We want
that crud
to be 'rendered to ash';
incineration is in this
specific case highly
appropriate. Even so, the
metals can be sifted out of the
residual and the heat generated
can be used to help lower the
cost of the hospital's hot
water and steam supply if their
system is sophisticated
enough.
OK, so we've established that
in some cases, incineration is
desirable, and can
technologically and
environmentally be the best
solution to an on-going
challenge. European countries
depend on this approach as a
key element in overarching
waste management schemes and
see materials recycling as
improved economically where the
non-recyclable fractions can
still be converted to heat,
power, and lower volumes of
ash.
Can this approach be abused?
Sure: there are Humans
involved. It's hard to justify
importing another country's
garbage to feed your big burner
even though you really need the
heat and power it produces.
That is no way to run a
materials recovery program, and
disposal remains a dead-end
off-ramp for the Circular
Economy.
It isn't the tool, it's the
worker. Our communities, and
our global health, would be in
tough shape if hospitals
couldn't use the proper thermal
waste conversion tools to
ensure pathogen kill via
incineration of needles and
blood in medical waste. Yet
we're running out of crucial
raw materials and molecular
recovery
must
be
sensibly incorporated
into our game
plan.
As technology improves, devices
get more efficient. Like
communications, our waste
management and resource
recovery capabilities are now
finding purchase at smaller and
smaller scales to move from the
governmental to the industrial
arenas, on down into our medium
and small business enterprises
and finally micro-scale for
community and residential
application. Eco-friendly
thermal waste conversion
systems scaled for your home
and business will become as
commonplace as toilets.
Resource recovery is just as
valid at home scale as in the
industrial workplace, and must
include the entire range of
tools and
techniques.
Hey Rube!
There is a ground-level shift
in standards, to track
everything
from
source to end use and beyond.
You can't manage what you don't
count, and that certainly
applies when we recover and put
back into productive use a
gazillion tons of biomass. If
you want to return organics to
the soil, just remember please
that what goes into the dirt
comes up in the
lettuce.
This Week's Extra
Reading
After retiring from talking
trash and doing garbage for 30
years, Marty Strauss wrote a
story about a young dragon
living in a canyon that has
been turned into a landfill by
the nearby community.
"CHAGALL: The
Recycling Dragon" has
been shared with teachers
who liked the story message
about recycling, and the
interaction with the
students talking about what
Chagall can do to keep his
home.
This Week's Top Story
CHO Power
Achieves FAR Status for
Waste to Power Plant in
Morcenx
The French company Europlasma
has announced that its
subsidiary CHO Power has
reached Final Acceptance with
Reserves (FAR) status for its
advanced gasification waste to
power facility in Morcenx.
12/01/2015
The Week's News
Boeing,
Canadian Aviation Industry
Launch Sustainable Biofuel
Project
Boeing, the University of
British Columbia (UBC) and
SkyNRG, with support from
Canada's aviation industry and
other stakeholders, are
collaborating to turn leftover
branches, sawdust and other
forest-industry waste into
sustainable aviation biofuel.
12/04/2015
CEFC Commits
$100M to New Australian
Bioenergy
Fund
The Clean Energy Finance
Corporation (CEFC) is aiming to
accelerate investment in
Australia’s bioenergy sector
through a $100 million
cornerstone commitment to the
new Australian Bioenergy Fund.
12/04/2015
SEaB Energy
Receives EU Funding to Boost
Expansion into New
Markets
United Kingdom (UK) based SEaB
Energy Limited has received
European Union (EU) funding
that will help it accelerate
the adoption of its innovative,
waste-to-energy technology
across Europe and international
markets.
12/04/2015
California
Will Host Sessions on New US
Food Safety Modernization
Act
The California Department of
Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
will host informational
sessions on the US Food and
Drug Administration’s (FDA)
Food Safety Modernization Act
(FSMA) Final Rules for Produce
Safety and Preventive Controls
for Animal Food.
12/03/2015
ElectraTherm's
Waste Heat Technology Will
Use Biomass for CHP in
UK
Nevada based ElectraTherm, Inc
has announced shipment of the
first Power+ Generator 6500 (up
to 110kW electrical output) to
a garden centre in the United
Kingdom (UK).
12/02/2015
Green
Biologics' Commercial
Bio-Chemical Plant in US is
Under
Construction
United Kingdom (UK) company
Green Biologics, Ltd (GBL) has
announced the start of
construction on its 100%
renewable bio-based n-butanol
and acetone commercial plant in
Little Falls, Minnesota.
12/02/2015
HomeBiogas
Launches IndiGoGo Campaign
to Fund Home
Digester
Israeli company HomeBiogas has
launched an Indiegogo campaign
to raise $100,000 in
partnership with Tross Creative
House to advance production of
its HomeBiogas® biogas systems
that turn organic waste to
clean biogas for cooking, and
to liquid natural fertilizer
for the garden.
12/01/2015
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