U.S. Technology and Solutions for Waste-to-Energy Initiatives | A Project for Pakistan

This project introduced five participants to U.S. stakeholders in the waste-to-energy (WtE) sector, including their investors, owners and operators, as well as local government and concerned nonprofits to discuss U.S. approaches to managing municipal solid waste and produce energy. The five participants represented expertise spanning civil planning, agriculture, municipal waste and renewable energy. All five shared a common language in finance and business operations, allowing them to understand the unique nuances of the various municipal and privately owned WtE facilities, landfills and treatment plants they visited across the country.

To kick their exchange off, the group was treated to an industry overview and focused meetings on energy financing provided by a leading trade association –  the Energy Recovery Council and Berkeley Research Group LLC – a leading energy and climate consultancy. The group also met with representatives affiliated with two prominent NGOs in Detroit – Green Living Science and Zero-Waste Detroit, working to promote recycling and green energy efforts. The latter served as a cautionary note on the pollution challenges that have traditionally plagued the WtE sector and its impacts on community health. Meetings in Pittsburgh were then arranged to illustrate how modern facilities were leveraging new technologies to manage waste sustainably and address these concerns.

Among these were Seneca Landfill – a company that makes use of their landfill gas to fuel its company vehicles, and Reinford Farms – a traditional dairy farm that found new a revenue stream from processing regional organic waste into usable energy. A stop in Tampa Bay, in turn, provided the participants with insight into traditional incinerator WtE plant operations, including modern upgrades the municipally-owned facility undertook to maximize efficiency and mitigate pollution. Underscoring the importance that WtE efforts sit alongside sound recycling initiatives, participants were treated to a virtual tour and behind the scenes look at waste collection and sorting operations at the Berkeley County Water and Sanitation facility in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. The exchange ended with a meeting with the former and prominent recycling coordinator for the City of Philadelphia, Mr. Maurice Sampson, who helped the group reflect on all of which they had learned and draw connections between local and international waste management policies.

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