![]() The incinerators of today - with pollution controls and energy recovery - have made leaps forward compared to the incinerators of the past, which did not have any control over combustion whatsoever. The steam residents see from their neighborhood is a mix of water vapor, flue gasses, as well as the remainder of pollutants that weren’t captured in the control systems - a small percentage. At the Lorton facility, there is a nitrogen oxide and mercury control system as well. For particulate matter (PM), there are thousands of baghouses, which are filters that capture a majority of the PM before the steam goes out the stacks. Semi-dry flue gas scrubbers with the reagent lime reduce acid gas emissions including hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid. The pollution controls focus on reducing acid gases - the gases that have been formed from burning household trash. Pollution controls at the facilities make up about half of the facility, physically speaking, according to Paul Gilman, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer with Covanta. Per the Act and White’s office, starting in 2017 they will collect data on what private haulers do with their waste, which could help pinpoint recycling rates and where her office should focus their resources for improvement. Annie White, director of the new waste diversion office, said the act “is a very strong framework” that is “visionary” in many respects.Īnother big step is to collect data from private haulers. The goal is to divert 80 percent of commercial, residential, and industrial waste from landfills and EfW facilities by 2032. launched a sustainability plan in 2014 and passed the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act, which established the Office of Waste Diversion among other essential frameworks. To tackle recycling rates and the looming trash problem, D.C. There are fluctuations, recycling rates between households and businesses are different, and data from private haulers is limited. Finding the precise data is difficult for several reasons. A 2007 study found that 18 percent of D.C’s waste is recycled, and another figure said 21 percent of household waste is recycled. manages is recycled, according to an estimate given to ThinkProgress by D.C. While the country’s average recycling rate is around 34 percent, only 7 percent of the waste D.C. Over 450,000 tons of that waste is handled by D.C. ![]() In Washington D.C., residents produce around 800,000 tons of waste annually. But now more than ever before, cities have a responsibility to solve the underlying issue: reducing the waste before it ever gets tossed in a bin. Methane is a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide on a 20 year time frame, so this is particularly important for climate change. Landfills are also no friend to the environment due to various pollutants, such as methane emissions, which are caused by buried organic material rotting. While around half of the trash in the United States is still sent to be buried in landfills, EfW facilities in recent years have found new ways to meet pollution controls, recycle metals, and reduce waste volume - but not without financial and potential health costs to the cities where they’re located. The facilities are alternately known as waste-to-energy, incinerators, or energy from waste (EfW). and produces enough energy to power over 80,000 homes - far more than the number of homes in Lorton. Covanta’s facility burns around 3,000 tons per day on its 23-acre site with trash coming in from Fairfax County and Washington D.C. The I-95 Energy Resource Recovery Facility is privately owned by Covanta Fairfax. Another 49 percent is sent to landfills, 7 percent is recycled, and 1 percent is composted. sends around 43 percent of the waste the city manages. They burn a city’s worth of trash in Lorton, and use it to make electricity. This northern Virginia neighborhood sits just around the corner from an energy recovery facility in the town of Lorton - just 20 minutes south of Washington D.C. Few would notice the steam, but those who did weren’t too concerned. The yards are picturesque, with bright green grass, and some residents enjoy the hot, summer day to walk through the rolling hills of their neighborhood. A steady line of steam rises up over the hill just above dozens of brick townhouses and suburban homes.
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