Waste-to-energy plants generate additional revenues from sale of recovered metals, renewable energy, can fund other solid waste activities, repay loans, says white paper from Solid Waste Assn. of North American
Tracy McDonald
SILVER SPRING, Maryland
,
January 16, 2012
(press release)
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The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) released a white paper titled “Waste-to-Energy Facilities Provide Significant Economic Benefits.” The purpose of this white paper is to illustrate the financial success of waste-to-energy operations throughout the United States. Waste-to-energy is a reliable and renewable form of energy that has become the basis for many of the most successful solid waste management systems in North America. More than 80 waste-to-energy plants throughout the United States have allowed municipalities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and waste to landfills, while providing significant financial benefits to their communities.
The paper highlights a number of economic benefits communities achieve by investing in waste-to-energy such as additional revenues generated from the sale of recovered metals and renewable energy. These revenue streams have been used to fund other solid waste activities as well as loan re-payment.
“This paper demonstrates the positive economic performance of many waste-to-energy facilities over several decades,” said John H. Skinner, Ph.D. SWANA Executive Director and CEO. “Other municipalities considering this technology across North America can have confidence that they can be operated in an environmentally sound manner and can actually represent an economic asset to the community,” Skinner added.
In conjunction with the release of this white paper, SWANA’s Applied Research Foundation (ARF) will be releasing a report entitled, “The Economic Development Benefits of Waste-to-Energy Facilities.” This report surveys the solid waste systems in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and concludes that properly managed waste-to-energy facilities offer an array of financial benefits to the communities that utilize them.
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