Energy-from-Waste (EfW) or waste-to-energy (WTE) is a process that takes municipal solid waste –including plain old household trash -- and transfers it into combustion chambers where it is reduced to 10% of its original volume in the process. The heat generated from the combustion chambers heats up water in steel tubes that form the walls of the combustion chambers.  The water is turned to steam and sent through a turbine that continuously generates electricity.

Over the past 25 years, the EfW industry has developed state-of-the-art technology that makes EfW one of the cleanest forms of energy generation. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, Department of Energy and 23 states have classified EfW as a renewable technology, and the Department of Energy states that turning garbage into energy makes “important contributions to the overall effort to achieve increased renewable energy use and the many associated positive environmental benefits.” The advanced technology in combusting waste is the air quality (emission) control system. Energy-from-waste facilities meet or exceed the strictest federal standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and employ a multi-step process to achieve superior environmental performance.

Why choose Energy-from-Waste?

• Clean power: The  US EPA has stated that waste-to-energy plants are a “clean, reliable, renewable source of energy” that “produces electricity with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.”

• Less dependence on imported fuels: For every ton of waste processed in a EfW facility, we avoid the need to import 1 barrel of oil or mine one quarter ton of coal.

• Net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction: For every ton of waste processed in a EfW facility, almost one ton of GHG is avoided.

• A safe and effective solution for managing local trash generation: Less reliance on landfills and long distance shipping of trash across state lines preserves valuable land and resource with minimal disturbance to surrounding neighborhoods.