So Congress has devised a new plan to deal with its waste: Convert it to energy.

Although composting is good in theory, it hasn’t worked in practice, said Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif. And with a waste-to-energy program, the rest of Congress’ waste won’t have to be landfilled, as was done in recent years.

“There was really no win-win-win on it,” Lungren said. “We were looking for ways to save money, but also do a more efficient job of reducing landfill à and we thought this showed real promise.”

One reason composting failed, Lungren said, was it cost too much. Congress was spending nearly $500,000 a year to ship food scraps about 70 miles away, and higher fuel prices made the effort untenable.

The new program will save about $60,000 annually, he said.

Under a deal which begins in November, about 5,300 tons of Congress’ annual trash will be sent to waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities in Virginia. The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) agency has entered into a contract that will divert up to 90% of the U.S. Capitol Complex’s solid waste from landfills.

The waste will be shipped to nearby incinerators and used to fuel generators that will produce electricity for the Capitol’s power grid, which the AOC said will generate enough electricity to power an office building the size of the Dirksen Senate Office Building or the Longworth House Office Building for several months.

The decision to send waste from congressional facilities to waste-to-energy plants instead of landfills was based on an analysis conducted by the AOC’s Office of Energy and Sustainability, with direction from the Committee on House Administration (CHA).

“We had a report that showed the failure of the composting program that had been utilized, and that had been recognized on a bipartisan basis,” said Lungren, who oversees the AOC as CHA chairman.

When the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January, Lungren said they asked the Democrats what changes they would make.

“And one of the subsequent recommendations they made was to get rid of the composting program because it had failed, despite all good intentions,” he said.

Because composting only dealt with about 10% of the Capitol’s waste — about 535 tons a year — Congress sought a more comprehensive waste program.

“We thought we’d expand it beyond [composting] and see if we could come to some alternative,” Lungren said. “One of the things that came on our radar screen was the waste-to-energy program that, when you do a little research on it, actually is being recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. EPA and a number of different government agencies when they look at it objectively.”

Under the new contract, Washington-based Urban Service Systems will be collecting the waste and will transport it to Covanta Energy Corp.’s WTE plants in Virginia, said Eva Malecki, communications officer for the AOC.

In metropolitan Washington, there are three Covanta WTE facilities that can process a combined 3,000 tons of waste per day and can generate up to 23 megawatts of energy that is sold to Dominion Virginia Power Co.

“We were looking at what we need to do to maintain the [Capitol] campus and take care of the needs here, and one of those things is waste disposal,” Malecki said. “We look at the various options and look at what makes the most sense for our customer and the taxpayer.”

The contract stipulates that the waste must be burned within 50 miles of the Capitol complex, which also puts forthcoming facilities in Maryland as possible destinations for Congress’ trash. Maryland has three WTE projects under development or already permitted for construction, according to the Washington-based Environmental Integrity Project (EIP).

“Maryland does not want Congress’ trash,” Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said during a conference call. “Maryland doesn’t generate enough trash, really, to sustain all these plants. They’re being developed and considered as a regional center for trash combustion. We would just prefer … that Congress do better at recycling and that we not get trash from the District of Columbia or surrounding areas.”

Malecki said Capitol Hill already has a “very robust recycling program.”

According to the AOC’s 2010 Sustainability, Energy and Water Conservation Management Report, 738 tons of waste was recycled in fiscal year 2008, a 45% increase from fiscal year 2005.

“This doesn’t remove any of that from this process; it just takes the waste that we can’t recycle and takes it to the waste-to-energy facility,” Malecki said.

Source: Waste & Recycling News
By Shawn Wright

Photo courtesy of bokashiworld.wordpress.com.

Education is the key to stopping food waste. Teaching children about the right way to recycle organic waste is very important if future generations are to make progress on this issue. Enviropower – Bokashi is an Australian company tackling this challenge by providing sustainable organic waste management tools and services to local schools.

The Bokashi system ferments kitchen waste using effective microorganisms. Fermentation prevents the waste from rotting and putrefying. Because there is no putrefaction, there are no foul odors or insects. This system can be easily used in an indoor environment, making it a simple and pleasant task for schools to recycle their food waste.

Through the Bokashi and vermicomposting programs, the company shows teachers and students how to assess the amount of organic waste generated, and provides a fully operational and robustly constructed worm farm designed for school organic waste recycling.

Through these programs, schools are taught to transform organic waste into a natural resource, students become the “recyclers” who look at organic waste as a potential resource rather than something to be thrown away and forgotten.

The programs also help schools create their own vegetable gardens and use the organic recycling byproducts to promote healthy growth in plants for use in the school cafeteria.

Watch this video to learn more about the Bokashi system!

At the other end of the spectrum, composting is a waste-management process that turns millions of tons a year of municipal, agricultural and industrial organic waste streams into high-value soil amendments utilized by homeowners, landscapers, golf course superintendents, park and athletic fields managers, vintners, vegetable growers, highway departments, green-roof installers, civil engineers and many others.

In both cases and all points in between, composting is a biological process that depends on microbes, moisture and air to turn organic residuals into nutrient-rich, soil-building humus. Another critical element is the right mixture of “green” nitrogen-rich materials (e.g., food scraps, grass clippings) and “brown” carbon-rich materials (e.g., leaves, woody landscape debris).

Because commercial composters rely on tipping fees — a per-ton cost paid by generators of organics residuals — to make the economics work, they utilize systems that keep the process moving along while not compromising the finished product. These include in-vessel, aerated static pile and windrow composting. In-vessel commercial composters are typically metal, concrete or fabric enclosures within which air, temperature and moisture levels can be monitored and controlled. Aerated static piles introduce air through piping or porous pads and do not require frequent turning.

Windrowing involves placing the compost feedstock in long rows that must be turned frequently. The ideal internal temperature for an active compost pile is between 135° F and 160° F — hot enough to kill pathogens and weed seeds, but not so hot as to kill beneficial microbes.

BioCycle, published since 1960, estimates that there are well over 4,000 composting facilities in the U.S. BioCycle’s online directory, findacomposter.com, includes close to 1,000 facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

Over BioCycle’s 52 years of publishing, an industry has emerged to service the private companies and government entities that run composting facilities. Challenges the industry faces include development of adequate and effective infrastructure to keep up with businesses’ and communities’ growing desires to divert organic residuals from the landfill and efficacy related to the emerging market for compostable products to replace traditional plastics used for foodservice, bags and packaging. Keeping organic waste streams out of the landfill, especially food waste from grocery stores, cafeterias, restaurants, food processors and households — and directing these materials to composting and anaerobic digestion — reduces emissions of methane from landfills.

For a sample copy of BioCycle, a monthly magazine dedicated to advancing composting and compost use around the world, email biocycle@jgpress.com.

Dan Sullivan is the Managing Editor of BioCycle.

Making a backyard compost is extremely easy and very enjoyable. Not only is it good for the environment, but it can also save you money on fertilizers and potting soil. Some of the best soil you can create comes from everyday household waste, so why not make a compost to benefit yourself and the environment?

First, dig a hole 3 to 4 feet in diameter. You don’t need to remove the dirt, just make sure it is loose and pliable. Place a container outside your house that can hold all the biodegradable waste that you would typically throw away. It’s simple to make one yourself. You can buy a standard plastic garbage container. Every few days you should empty it out and rinse it with a garden hose to keep the fumes limited. Once a week, add the waste to the compost and turn it around. You may want to place a cover over your compost so the material doesn’t stray from the container. In a matter of weeks, you will have some of the best soil you can buy.

It is so rewarding to create a compost in your back yard and then use the soil to fertilize your garden and other plants around the house. My wife and I are deeply inspired to dig up a corner of our back yard and give back to the earth and prevent our landfills from excess waste. Compost soil is rich in essential minerals and vitamins that will naturally fertilize plants. We plan on using the soil at the beginning of the winter to plant tomatoes (we live in Florida, so January is a good time to plant tomatoes). Backyard composting is easy and rewarding, requiring very little work. Before the winter sets in, take advantage of the warmth and get a backyard compost started today.