Modern Waste-To-Energy: ESS Knows... Litter!
From recovery units in North Carolina landfills to elephant litter in Kentucky, ESS has experience with testing various technologies for converting waste-to-energy (WTE). ESS has tested multiple types of gasification units fired with chicken, pig, and elephant litter as well as shipboard units fired with trash.
Trash and recycling is piling up globally since China banned imports of mixed paper, plastic, and restricted scrap in 2018. Many foreign markets have followed suit in hopes of reducing foreign risks to environmental health and safety. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly reduced recycling programs domestically.
The main WTE technologies involve gasification and incineration. Incineration uses high temperatures to destroy waste and generate heat while gasification utilizes a high temperature chemical conversion process to convert the waste into a gas and creates a byproduct that is recoverable for other processes.
Multiple regulations have lowered allowable incineration emissions in the US for most types of waste including:
- Hospital, Medical, and Infectious Waste Incinerators (HMIWI)
- Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units (CISWI)
- Sewage Sludge Incineration Units (SSI)
ESS has experience in all waste incineration including shipboard incineration and is certified for Shipboard Incinerator Inspections per 40 CFR Part 63 by the US Coast Guard.
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