[Archived] Alexandria and Arlington County Make Energy from Waste

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	May 21, 2007 PIO# 125-07/rdo	Steve Mason, Director of Communications, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

Alexandria and Arlington County Make Energy from Waste
Covanta Facility Diverts Ferrous Metals for Recycling

The City of Alexandria and Arlington County are pleased to announce the completion of a ferrous metal recovery project at the Covanta energy from waste recovery facility. The project was implemented to recover ferrous metals for recycling and divert these materials from the I-95 ash mono-fill where the facility’s residuals are ultimately disposed. Recovery of these materials also assists the jurisdictions in achieving greater rates of recycling. The facility processes approximately 350,000 tons of solid waste within the two jurisdictions each year. The facility is co-owned by Alexandria and Arlington in partnership with the facility operator Covanta.

The Covanta facility converts solid waste into steam, which is then used to turn turbines that generate electricity for approximately 20,000 area homes. This conversion process has enabled Alexandria and Arlington to reduce the volume of solid waste volume in its landfills by nearly 90 percent. Converting waste to energy decreases potential methane gas emissions from landfills and eliminates the need to burn fossil fuels for energy generation, both of which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

“Today is a great day for recycling in our communities,” said Barbara Liechti, one of the Arlington County Trustees to the plant. “The City and County have been working for almost 20 years to recover ferrous metal from the ash and recycle it and now that dream is a reality. We saw the magnet in action today and applaud Covanta’s efforts to reduce our waste.”

The biggest challenge for Covanta was that the facility was not originally designed to recover ferrous material, so space to retrofit was limited. Covanta overcame this challenge by using a simple design concept and European technology. A design was developed to mount the magnet on a retractable frame-in-a-frame structure to prevent large items from passing through to the load-out bay without damaging or jamming the magnet. Covanta expects the system to recover 10,000 -15,000 tons of metal each year.

Covanta was one of four finalists for the Technology Achievement Award at the 2007 Alexandria Technology Achievement Award Luncheon held May 18. The Alexandria Technology Achievement Awards are sponsored cooperatively by the City of Alexandria, the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership. Finalists represent an impressive cross-section of companies in which technology has been applied in new and innovative ways.

For more information about the ferrous recovery program, please contact Michael Renga, Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, Inc. at 703-370-7722, ext. 608, or visit www.covantaenergy.com.

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