The use of C&D wood in boilers has come under scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This and other issues pertaining to C&D wood was the focus of a session titled “Power Surge or Brownout” during the 2011 C&D Recycling Forum, held near Baltimore in late September.
Session moderator Jason Haus, DemCon Cos., Shakopee, Minn., opened the session by getting attendees up to speed on what industry organizations are doing to fight the EPA’s Non Hazardous Secondary Materials Rule (NHSM).
“These rules affect the materials sent to these boilers, including C&D biomass products,” Haus told attendees.
Haus explained the basis the NHSM is to determine if materials accepted by a combustor are defined as a solid waste. The rule, he said, is intended to differentiate the combustor permit vs. the biomass permit. An ad hoc group was formed, consisting of representatives from the CMRA (Construction Materials Recycling Association), NSWMA (National Solid Wastes Management Association), Paper Recycling Coalition, American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), the Biomass Power Council and others. The coalition met with EPA to provide background information on C&D biomass and how the rule would negatively impact the industry.
“Representatives went to D.C. to show technical data how wood was safe and powerful,” said Haus.
The group asked officials with the EPA to examine a proposal to solve the issues with current rule. According to Haus, the EPA proposed a solution, but was not sure if it was legal or would be challenged by environmental groups. This past July the industry group traveled to Washington, D.C. to ask for a “stay,” but the EPA refused the request.
“The EPA has indicated that C&D wood material is questionable,” said Haus. “The EPA has indicated that it is not a traditional fuel.”
According to Haus, initial studies counter the EPA claims that C&D wood is questionable. However, studies show C&D materials have overall lower contamination levels than traditional fuels, and the coalition is working to have an exemption by class of material where “processed C&D wood would be a class of material.” The group also jointly filed a suit against the EPA, which is on hold “until legislation runs its course,” said Haus.
Haus pointed to two bills that are currently in Congress: S1392 and H2250, which would remove EPA requirements for the rule.
During the session, Bob Brickner of the consulting firm Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB) pointed out that while the conference was only a “45-minute drive away from Capitol Hill,” not one lawmaker or EPA official was in attendance.
According to research conducted by GBB, there are 86 waste to energy (WTE) combustion systems in the United States, which includes mass burn, modular, RDF (refuse -derived fuel) processing and combustion and RDF coal production. Combined, these systems have a total annual capacity of 29.2 million tons.
GBB’s report, as noted by Brickner, has identified 592 companies offering technology and/or development services. The sectors and the number of companies in that sector are the following:
- 31 Aerobic composting
- 110 Anaerobic digestion
- 36 Ethanol fermentation
- 175 Gasification
- 47 Plasma gasification
- 52 Pyrolysis
- 63 WTE: mass burn, modular, dedicated boilers, and RDF
- 78 Others (agglomeration, autoclave, de-polymerization, thermal cracking, steam reforming, hydrolysis)
According to Brickner, in December 2009, 19 alternative conversion technologies received a total of $564 million from the DOE (Department of Energy) for pilot, demonstration and commercial projects.
Brickner highlighted some waste conversion technology companies and projects, including Enerkem’s facilities in Westbury, Que., Edmonton, Alta., and Pontotoc, Miss.; Taylor Biomass Energy LLC, Montgomery, N.Y.; INEOS New Planet Bio Energy, Indian River County, Fla.; Fiberight; Geo Plasma, St. Lucie LLC; Lake County (Indiana) Solid Waste Management District Waste-to-Ethanol Project; and PlascoEnergy Group, Ottawa, Ont.
Brickner added that “torrefaction” is a word that C&D recyclers should become familiar with. It is a process by which wood can be turned into coal. “The product is at a much higher energy density than the raw biomass, increasing the distance over which the biomass can be transported to plants for use or processing the products further because of lower weights and volumes,” he said.
Kurt MacNamara, founder of W.K. MacNamara Corp. and Devens Recycling Center, Devens, Mass., discussed how MassDEP’s (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection) ban on wood from landfills has impacted C&D recycling.
He said his company decided to get in on what seemed like an opportunity at the time because the ban was supposed to open up new markets for wood. His company built a built 100,000-square-foot facility on 16 acres to process C&D material. But, according to MacNamara, “the wood market never came around and wood began piling up in our buildings.
“We are really at a conundrum with the state of Massachusetts with what we are going to do with our wood,” MacNamara continued. Other than at burn facilities, MacNamara said wood chips from his facility are being used to absorb mud at landfills. He advised attendees to try to find other markets for wood than burn facilities. His company changed its permit from a C&D facility to now accept MSW (municipal solid waste). MacNamara said the additional material stream has helped.