Now that system is falling apart. In the meantime, I think most folks are opaque to the whole issue, Kirk said. The companies MIRA is negotiating with have mentioned delays in procuring trucks, train cars and drivers they need to do the work, Kirk said part of the widespread supply chain and worker availability questions businesses across the U.S. have been grappling with. The Wheelabrator Lisbon waste-to-energy facility provides dependable, environmentally safe disposal of up to 500 tons daily of everyday household and business waste, using it as a fuel to generate as much as 15 MW of clean, renewable electricity for sale to the local utility. Click here for more NENC stories on waste and trash issues in New England, The Gulf of Maine has the most marine mammal diversity on the east coast, study finds, Want to smell in virtual reality? 6 0 obj
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Plainfield, CT 06374 By itself, anemic REC prices may not cause economic strain on the industry, but they are causing significant shortfalls when coupled with recent developments in the wholesale electricity market. MIRA President and CEO Tom Kirk said in a phone interview Wednesday that it was a confluence of events that led to this moment. Telephone: 860-885-3512,
Sawyer noted DEEP could be open to a scenario in which MIRA proposes transfer operations for a fixed timeframe,along with waste diversion or reduction strategies, but awaits further discussion.
Connecticuts incinerator the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) Incinerator - will be shutting down in 2022, after over 40 years of burning trash from almost 60 Connecticut towns. MIRA burns about a half million tons of trash each year. Its cost to taxpayers could have been as high as $330 million. Senate passes CHIPS bill, sparking hope microchip production will help waste equipment supply chain issues, Oregon's EPR for packaging law committee begins detailed implementation process, Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). For more information on facility performance click here. Hes calling on the governor, DEEP and the legislature to step up. But shifting energy markets have hurt the economics of the plants, which may lead to higher disposal fees for businesses and residents. Lamont said that wastoo much. The company formerly known asBioHiTech Global has seen its stock price plummetfollowingfinancial, operational and legalissues. T: 860 598-0050, Copyright 2022 Design by Julia Balfour, LLC, State Ethics Board Fines Connecticut Port Authority Contractor Seabury for Gifts, As Other Connecticut Cities Allow Electric Scooters, Stamford Hesitates, Stamford School Traffic Safety Waits on State Lawmakers, As Guilford and Shoreline Towns Cut Back, Old Lymes Beach Communities Truck in Water, Illegal Drag Racing Back on the Rise in Norwalk, New-Haven-Based Gateway to Expand Road Salt Business from Montville Redevelopment. Sorting food scraps/organics, improved sorting of recyclables, glass, paper and other products is key. By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our, multiple digesters remain permitted and unbuilt, Connecticut policy to limit landfilling faces pivotal moment as major WTE project stalls, Vanguard Renewables sold to BlackRockfund to fuel anaerobic digester expansion, Future of troubled Renovare unclear after West Virginia facility closure, surprise merger reversal, GFLEnvironmental largely overcomes inflation through pricing and fuel charges, raises 2022 revenue guidance, WIN Waste Innovations buys Ohio hauler, creating platform for further regional expansion, WM raises 2022 guidance, plans to restart notable M&A spending, Connecticut's MIRA WTE facility finally closes, leaving many questions about regional capacity.
The state has some composting facilities and one anaerobic digester, but multiple digesters remain permitted and unbuiltdue to what sources describe as a lack of reliable feedstock to attract financing. The solid waste system designed in the 70s probably had a 50-year life cycle, if we were honest, Wray said. The remainder what is now trucked directly to the South Meadows trash-burning plant will now be trucked into the nearby Murphy Road Recycling Center, then shipped by truck or rail to the Tunnel Hill Landfill in Ohio. Because of action that were not taking, were going to get into more uncertainty. There must be other waste reduction, recycling or organics measures put in place so the overall footprint of that waste stream is being managed more sustainably and more in line with the states solid waste management plan.. 0000100619 00000 n That will not change until there is either a regulatory statutory restriction against dealing with your garbage that way, or the economics change.. The trash that goes through the Torrington and Watertown transfer stations will be handled by Bridgeport-based Enviro Express, and will be trucked to a landfill in eastern Pennsylvania, Kirk said. There are only a few companies that have the capacity to ship waste out of state by rail. UPDATE: Dec.10, 2020:The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) recently announced plans to close its refuse-derived fuel facility by July 2022 at the latest, as reported in the last week by WNPRand the Hartford Courant. 170 Enterprise Drive 0000001618 00000 n The real deal is that we need state leadership to refresh the solid waste system in the state.. font size, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Regulating Waste Storage, Treatment, Transportation & Disposal. Subscribe to Waste Dive for top news, trends & analysis, The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines, The Recycling Partnerships Polypropylene Recycling Coalition Celebrates Widely Recycled Upg, Sunnyvale Bay Counties SMaRT Station Materials Recovery Facility Expands Use of EverestLabs' R, Industry Dive to be acquired by Informa PLC, Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) to refurbish an aging refuse-derived fuel (RDF)facility for a capital cost of at least $330 million. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has said it is working to reduce the amount of state trash that will be sent to out-of-state landfills as a result of MIRAs closure. It could be because it is not supported, or that JavaScript is intentionally disabled. The legislature is considering setting up a task force on the issue. It seems that JavaScript is not working in your browser. 0000083768 00000 n Telephone: 860-457-9307, Wheelabrator Bridgeport Resource Recovery Facility Applications for the Connecticut Child Tax Rebate must be submitted to the Department of Revenue Services by July 31, 2022. 0000000764 00000 n Any type of new facility, regardless of the technology, would require a longer construction and permitting timeframe. Our throw-away lifestyle and consumer- oriented society creates lots of trash - 1,370 lbs per household/annually in Connecticut. Telephone: 203-337-2219, Wheelabrator Lisbon Resource Recovery Facility The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority trash-to-energy plant in Hartford, Conn. (Ryan Caron King/CT Public). Under the new arrangement, all the trash that now goes to the incinerator in the South Meadows of Hartford will now be split up in three directions: a landfill in Pennsylvania, one in Ohio, and an incinerator in eastern Connecticut. Permittees must monitor the site and report to the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection but concerns about leakage and contamination of soil, ground and surface water sources remain, particularly if flooding occurs. Kirk said the MIRA towns remaining under contract will send about 65,000 tons of trash to transfer stations in Torrington and Essex, but that will also push those facilities to send an equal amount out-of-state. But that scope narrowed amid realizations that the existing facility's condition was worse than anticipated. Join our email list to stay in the loop on clean water issues affecting your region. %PDF-1.3 % While MIRA is continuing to work through an RFP process for the renovation and operation of its MRF (currently contracted with Republic Services into next year), much of the entity's future operational plans are up in the air. And that, today, is putting it on a truck or train and sending it west, Kirk said.
1444 I Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005P (202) 895-0420F (202) 895-0438, 1444 I Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. For member communities that have contracts with MIRA past that date, the facility will be converted into a transfer station. 0000001048 00000 n 132 Route 12 / Military Highway 0000001028 00000 n This local-energy ecosystem turns local waste into local power to supply the electrical needs of the equivalent of 12,610 Connecticut homes as well as its own operations. Topics covered: recycling, landfills, collections, organics diversion, waste-to-energy, and much more. Former partner Entsorgasees a path forward for its shuttered showcase plant. As disposal capacity continues to shrink in the Northeast, the cost to ship waste elsewhere is expected to rise over time. Gov. The plan has been for the South Meadows plant to shut down on July 1, 2022, but MIRA now expects it will take a few weeks, or even months, longer to complete the transition. In mid-2020, Gov. Connecticutmade decisions years ago to move away from landfilling and shift to waste to energy incinerators that burn trash, creating some electricity. And I do see the system falling apart.. The letter asked for more attention to efforts in line with the state's materials management strategy, such as organics diversion, recycling education and unit-based pricing to drive waste reduction. Less waste in landfills reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 225,000 tons of CO2. The reason we need that opt out is if things change, if the price of fuel changes and all of a sudden trucks are spending a lot more money to get to Pennsylvania and the tipping fee has to go up by a lot, then the towns would have the option to unilaterally leave the agreement, Kirk said. Lisbon, CT 06351 For Wheelabrator to give us the resources to take on environmental problems in our community, its so unique. DEEP is calling on the entity to also explore private sector options first. Ultimately, we want to ensure that Connecticut can maintain self-sufficiency in the way that we manage our disposal, said Katie Dykes, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Lee D. Hoffman is chairman of Hartford law firm Pullman & Comleys Regulatory, Energy & Telecommunications Department. The sale of energy paid for about 40 to 50% of the operation of the plant and when that happened, the tipping fees for member towns increased. Because local landfills are no longer an option, the only choice remaining is waste-to-energy plants or shipping waste out of state. Contracts have now expired and wholesale prices have dropped. Thats not an advantage for Hartford, its a disadvantage for everyone., Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. In an interview last month, SRRT attributed some of these challenges to a disconnect between DEEP and MIRA. Ash is processed to recover metal for recycling while all gases are collected, filtered and cleaned before being released safely into the atmosphere. For now, their ability to corner the market and charge hauling premiumsis held in check by waste-to-energy competition. A Vermont-based startup has the technology , Episode 252: The Final Episode: How Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola Reimagines History; Protesters Reflect On The Year That Changed Us, Episode 251: Reflecting On Surviving The White Gaze; Why Green Burials Are Surging In Popularity, Episode 250: Its Like Climbing Up A Mudslide: Pandemic Pushes Women Out Of The Workforce, Episode 249: Alison Bechdel On The Secret To Superhuman Strength; Advocates Push Colleges To Hire More Black-Owned Firms To Oversee Investments, Episode 248: The Happiness Lab Professor On Ways We Can Be Happier; How Jonny Sun Is Learning To Balance Work And Rest. But if the states waste-to-energy plants become no longer economically viable, tipping fees could rise dramatically, and Connecticut will lose the ability to address waste generation inside its own borders. And I think one of our jobs in the public sector is to manage certainty, Wray said. They claim that more area is needed to accommodate more ash. Wray said the current life cycle of Connecticuts waste infrastructure dates back to the 1970s, when planners decided to ditch landfills and, instead, burn trash to make power. CT is working hard to move in this direction and we all must do our part. Municipalities rely on MIRA to dispose of their waste in waste-to-energy plants. We use waste to produce 17 megawatts of electricity 24/7 - enough to power 12,000 homes for a year. If everything holds while contracts are finalized in the coming months, the 48 municipalities that have their trash managed by the quasi-public Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, or MIRA, will see an increase in the cost of that service but there shouldnt be any of the disruptions to service that were feared a year ago, MIRA President Tom Kirk told CT Examiner on Monday. We also recover 9,400 tons of metal for recycling annually - enough to build 7,000 cars. MIRA charges a tipping fee based on the tonnage disposed, and augments that fee with revenues from the production of electricity. The remaining constituents are well below federal and state standards. And a year ago, there were concerns the authority wouldnt even be able to find private companies willing to take on the enormous load of trash from 48 Connecticut municipalities, Kirk said. The site is expected to take years to be decommissioned. Theres no unused capacity, theyre all fully subscribed, so when we move our waste into Covanta, theyll have to knock someone else out. The state refused to borrow money to help keep it going until a more environmentally friendly alternative could be found. Although several states have better recycling or composting rates, Connecticut garners the top spot by having the highest waste-to-energy conversion rate. This article was originally published in the Hartford Business Journal's CT Green Guide: Spring 2016. While this outcome was not entirely unexpected by stakeholders, the state's rejection of MIRA's operational plan did come as a surprise to some and reframes discussions about next steps.
Zero Waste, not expanding a polluting ash disposal facility and destroying wetlands, is the better solution for Connecticut!
Connecticuts incinerator the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) Incinerator - will be shutting down in 2022, after over 40 years of burning trash from almost 60 Connecticut towns. MIRA burns about a half million tons of trash each year. Its cost to taxpayers could have been as high as $330 million. Senate passes CHIPS bill, sparking hope microchip production will help waste equipment supply chain issues, Oregon's EPR for packaging law committee begins detailed implementation process, Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). For more information on facility performance click here. Hes calling on the governor, DEEP and the legislature to step up. But shifting energy markets have hurt the economics of the plants, which may lead to higher disposal fees for businesses and residents. Lamont said that wastoo much. The company formerly known asBioHiTech Global has seen its stock price plummetfollowingfinancial, operational and legalissues. T: 860 598-0050, Copyright 2022 Design by Julia Balfour, LLC, State Ethics Board Fines Connecticut Port Authority Contractor Seabury for Gifts, As Other Connecticut Cities Allow Electric Scooters, Stamford Hesitates, Stamford School Traffic Safety Waits on State Lawmakers, As Guilford and Shoreline Towns Cut Back, Old Lymes Beach Communities Truck in Water, Illegal Drag Racing Back on the Rise in Norwalk, New-Haven-Based Gateway to Expand Road Salt Business from Montville Redevelopment. Sorting food scraps/organics, improved sorting of recyclables, glass, paper and other products is key. By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our, multiple digesters remain permitted and unbuilt, Connecticut policy to limit landfilling faces pivotal moment as major WTE project stalls, Vanguard Renewables sold to BlackRockfund to fuel anaerobic digester expansion, Future of troubled Renovare unclear after West Virginia facility closure, surprise merger reversal, GFLEnvironmental largely overcomes inflation through pricing and fuel charges, raises 2022 revenue guidance, WIN Waste Innovations buys Ohio hauler, creating platform for further regional expansion, WM raises 2022 guidance, plans to restart notable M&A spending, Connecticut's MIRA WTE facility finally closes, leaving many questions about regional capacity.
The state has some composting facilities and one anaerobic digester, but multiple digesters remain permitted and unbuiltdue to what sources describe as a lack of reliable feedstock to attract financing. The solid waste system designed in the 70s probably had a 50-year life cycle, if we were honest, Wray said. The remainder what is now trucked directly to the South Meadows trash-burning plant will now be trucked into the nearby Murphy Road Recycling Center, then shipped by truck or rail to the Tunnel Hill Landfill in Ohio. Because of action that were not taking, were going to get into more uncertainty. There must be other waste reduction, recycling or organics measures put in place so the overall footprint of that waste stream is being managed more sustainably and more in line with the states solid waste management plan.. 0000100619 00000 n That will not change until there is either a regulatory statutory restriction against dealing with your garbage that way, or the economics change.. The trash that goes through the Torrington and Watertown transfer stations will be handled by Bridgeport-based Enviro Express, and will be trucked to a landfill in eastern Pennsylvania, Kirk said. There are only a few companies that have the capacity to ship waste out of state by rail. UPDATE: Dec.10, 2020:The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) recently announced plans to close its refuse-derived fuel facility by July 2022 at the latest, as reported in the last week by WNPRand the Hartford Courant. 170 Enterprise Drive 0000001618 00000 n The real deal is that we need state leadership to refresh the solid waste system in the state.. font size, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Regulating Waste Storage, Treatment, Transportation & Disposal. Subscribe to Waste Dive for top news, trends & analysis, The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines, The Recycling Partnerships Polypropylene Recycling Coalition Celebrates Widely Recycled Upg, Sunnyvale Bay Counties SMaRT Station Materials Recovery Facility Expands Use of EverestLabs' R, Industry Dive to be acquired by Informa PLC, Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) to refurbish an aging refuse-derived fuel (RDF)facility for a capital cost of at least $330 million. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has said it is working to reduce the amount of state trash that will be sent to out-of-state landfills as a result of MIRAs closure. It could be because it is not supported, or that JavaScript is intentionally disabled. The legislature is considering setting up a task force on the issue. It seems that JavaScript is not working in your browser. 0000083768 00000 n Telephone: 860-457-9307, Wheelabrator Bridgeport Resource Recovery Facility Applications for the Connecticut Child Tax Rebate must be submitted to the Department of Revenue Services by July 31, 2022. 0000000764 00000 n Any type of new facility, regardless of the technology, would require a longer construction and permitting timeframe. Our throw-away lifestyle and consumer- oriented society creates lots of trash - 1,370 lbs per household/annually in Connecticut. Telephone: 203-337-2219, Wheelabrator Lisbon Resource Recovery Facility The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority trash-to-energy plant in Hartford, Conn. (Ryan Caron King/CT Public). Under the new arrangement, all the trash that now goes to the incinerator in the South Meadows of Hartford will now be split up in three directions: a landfill in Pennsylvania, one in Ohio, and an incinerator in eastern Connecticut. Permittees must monitor the site and report to the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection but concerns about leakage and contamination of soil, ground and surface water sources remain, particularly if flooding occurs. Kirk said the MIRA towns remaining under contract will send about 65,000 tons of trash to transfer stations in Torrington and Essex, but that will also push those facilities to send an equal amount out-of-state. But that scope narrowed amid realizations that the existing facility's condition was worse than anticipated. Join our email list to stay in the loop on clean water issues affecting your region. %PDF-1.3 % While MIRA is continuing to work through an RFP process for the renovation and operation of its MRF (currently contracted with Republic Services into next year), much of the entity's future operational plans are up in the air. And that, today, is putting it on a truck or train and sending it west, Kirk said.
1444 I Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005P (202) 895-0420F (202) 895-0438, 1444 I Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. For member communities that have contracts with MIRA past that date, the facility will be converted into a transfer station. 0000001048 00000 n 132 Route 12 / Military Highway 0000001028 00000 n This local-energy ecosystem turns local waste into local power to supply the electrical needs of the equivalent of 12,610 Connecticut homes as well as its own operations. Topics covered: recycling, landfills, collections, organics diversion, waste-to-energy, and much more. Former partner Entsorgasees a path forward for its shuttered showcase plant. As disposal capacity continues to shrink in the Northeast, the cost to ship waste elsewhere is expected to rise over time. Gov. The plan has been for the South Meadows plant to shut down on July 1, 2022, but MIRA now expects it will take a few weeks, or even months, longer to complete the transition. In mid-2020, Gov. Connecticutmade decisions years ago to move away from landfilling and shift to waste to energy incinerators that burn trash, creating some electricity. And I do see the system falling apart.. The letter asked for more attention to efforts in line with the state's materials management strategy, such as organics diversion, recycling education and unit-based pricing to drive waste reduction. Less waste in landfills reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 225,000 tons of CO2. The reason we need that opt out is if things change, if the price of fuel changes and all of a sudden trucks are spending a lot more money to get to Pennsylvania and the tipping fee has to go up by a lot, then the towns would have the option to unilaterally leave the agreement, Kirk said. Lisbon, CT 06351 For Wheelabrator to give us the resources to take on environmental problems in our community, its so unique. DEEP is calling on the entity to also explore private sector options first. Ultimately, we want to ensure that Connecticut can maintain self-sufficiency in the way that we manage our disposal, said Katie Dykes, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Lee D. Hoffman is chairman of Hartford law firm Pullman & Comleys Regulatory, Energy & Telecommunications Department. The sale of energy paid for about 40 to 50% of the operation of the plant and when that happened, the tipping fees for member towns increased. Because local landfills are no longer an option, the only choice remaining is waste-to-energy plants or shipping waste out of state. Contracts have now expired and wholesale prices have dropped. Thats not an advantage for Hartford, its a disadvantage for everyone., Brendan Crowley covers energy and the environment for CT Examiner. In an interview last month, SRRT attributed some of these challenges to a disconnect between DEEP and MIRA. Ash is processed to recover metal for recycling while all gases are collected, filtered and cleaned before being released safely into the atmosphere. For now, their ability to corner the market and charge hauling premiumsis held in check by waste-to-energy competition. A Vermont-based startup has the technology , Episode 252: The Final Episode: How Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola Reimagines History; Protesters Reflect On The Year That Changed Us, Episode 251: Reflecting On Surviving The White Gaze; Why Green Burials Are Surging In Popularity, Episode 250: Its Like Climbing Up A Mudslide: Pandemic Pushes Women Out Of The Workforce, Episode 249: Alison Bechdel On The Secret To Superhuman Strength; Advocates Push Colleges To Hire More Black-Owned Firms To Oversee Investments, Episode 248: The Happiness Lab Professor On Ways We Can Be Happier; How Jonny Sun Is Learning To Balance Work And Rest. But if the states waste-to-energy plants become no longer economically viable, tipping fees could rise dramatically, and Connecticut will lose the ability to address waste generation inside its own borders. And I think one of our jobs in the public sector is to manage certainty, Wray said. They claim that more area is needed to accommodate more ash. Wray said the current life cycle of Connecticuts waste infrastructure dates back to the 1970s, when planners decided to ditch landfills and, instead, burn trash to make power. CT is working hard to move in this direction and we all must do our part. Municipalities rely on MIRA to dispose of their waste in waste-to-energy plants. We use waste to produce 17 megawatts of electricity 24/7 - enough to power 12,000 homes for a year. If everything holds while contracts are finalized in the coming months, the 48 municipalities that have their trash managed by the quasi-public Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, or MIRA, will see an increase in the cost of that service but there shouldnt be any of the disruptions to service that were feared a year ago, MIRA President Tom Kirk told CT Examiner on Monday. We also recover 9,400 tons of metal for recycling annually - enough to build 7,000 cars. MIRA charges a tipping fee based on the tonnage disposed, and augments that fee with revenues from the production of electricity. The remaining constituents are well below federal and state standards. And a year ago, there were concerns the authority wouldnt even be able to find private companies willing to take on the enormous load of trash from 48 Connecticut municipalities, Kirk said. The site is expected to take years to be decommissioned. Theres no unused capacity, theyre all fully subscribed, so when we move our waste into Covanta, theyll have to knock someone else out. The state refused to borrow money to help keep it going until a more environmentally friendly alternative could be found. Although several states have better recycling or composting rates, Connecticut garners the top spot by having the highest waste-to-energy conversion rate. This article was originally published in the Hartford Business Journal's CT Green Guide: Spring 2016. While this outcome was not entirely unexpected by stakeholders, the state's rejection of MIRA's operational plan did come as a surprise to some and reframes discussions about next steps.
Zero Waste, not expanding a polluting ash disposal facility and destroying wetlands, is the better solution for Connecticut!