Waste doesn't have to be wasteful

With an abundance of waste now being generated around the world, news of new waste management projects will be welcomed, ensuring that waste is not allowed to be wasteful.

In America, Renmatix have entered a joint development agreement to explore the feasibility of converting post-consumer waste into affordable, sufficient-quality sugars for manufacturing biobased materials.

The firm hope to expand the capabilities of their proprietary Plantrose process to include materials derived from urban waste material such as that managed by Waste Management. This is a first-of-its kind deal, and the company believe the project will see returns almost immediately.

Source-separated recyclables, food scraps, construction and demolition debris, and pulp and paper waste will all be trialled by Renmatrix, with the hope that they will gain better understanding of how these materials can be reduced to sugar and leveraged for production of renewable chemicals and fuels.

Elsewhere in America, a wastewater treatment plant in Austin has employed new technology which will allow the plant to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy in the future. The Hornsby Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant in East Austin has a brand new 60,000-pound biogas generator, which uses the methane gas produced by the sewage treatment process to power the plant, as well as create extra energy.

"This generator produces so much electricity that it runs the entire treatment process here at Hornsby Bend, and the water department will get a credit, because the generator produces more than it will actually need to use," said Austin Energy spokesman Carlos Cordova.

According to officials at the plant, the biogas generator will be able to produce 700 kilowatts of power. However, the plant itself only requires 500 kilowatts of that energy, which allows the remaining 200 kilowatts to be fed back into the power grid, with Austin Water getting a credit for it.

"According to Austin Energy estimates it's about the equivalent of the power needed for 370 residential homes in Austin will be provided here with no outside fuel- all produced by methane gas," said Orren West, plant division manager.

Posted by Claire Manning