• January 29, 2013
• By Jim Johnson

Ronald J. Mills believes what's happening in Central Ohio will help change the course of solid waste management history.

"A game changer," he said, one that will help redefine the value of trash and its disposal.

The executive director of the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio is talking about a new two-pronged project aimed at digging deeper into the waste stream to extract more recyclables and develop a green energy industrial park.

A deal struck between SWACO and a company called Team Gemini LLC of Orlando, Fla., looks to construct a recycling center on 22 acres adjacent to the authority's Franklin County landfill near Columbus. Plans are to have the facility recycle a minimum of 1,000 tons of material each day, the agency said.

Extracting recyclables at this stage would provide one last swipe at the commodities prior to the waste heading for the landfill. Existing curbside recycling programs would not be impacted by the move as the new facility will target only the waste stream headed for the landfill.

Along with the recycling center, Team Gemini will lease 343 acres of land near the landfill to develop the green energy industrial park.

Mills is not shy when he describes what he believes will be the impact of the project both locally and beyond.

"This is going to change the way that our nation's waste stream is managed and handled, not only just here in Ohio, but nationally," Mills said. "What this does, it's a game changer in that it moves refuse management from one of finding the cheapest way of getting rid of the stuff, a cost center, into one that is a revenue generating center.

"This is a significant development in this industry. It changes everything, and I think it will lead to accelerated development of other systems and technology to realize and recover the value that's in the waste stream," he said.

A conveyor system will be built over a state roadway to connect the material recovery facility at the landfill with processing facilities at the industrial park, SWACO said.

Team Gemini also will build a receiving facility that will be owned and operated by SWACO in conjunction with the MRF that will be owned and operated by the company. SWACO stands to receive $4.81 per ton for usable material extracted by the MRF, the agency said.

SWACO expects to receive close to $2 million per year by selling the recyclables and leasing land to Team Gemini at $1,000 per acre. Add some $3 million or so annually the agency expects to receive by selling off its landfill gas in a separate deal and SWACO stands to receive about $5 million each year by harvesting the value of the trash it receives, Mills said.

And all of that will come without any investment by the agency.

SWACO anticipates using the revenue to maintain its infrastructure, which includes three transfer stations, equipment and a large recycling drop-off network in Franklin County in addition to the landfill. The money also will be used to help build a much-needed reserve fund for the agency and to help pay down debt, Mills said.

And the cash will allow SWACO to mitigate future rate increases.

"We will not have to go back to our rate payers as often or with as large of increases as we have historically," he said.

Team Gemini's green energy park will use organics and fiber captured from the waste stream to fuel a digester that will create energy to operate 35 acres of greenhouses that will grow organic tomatoes, Mills said. Sales, primarily to Europe, will provide enough profit for Team Gemini to meet its obligations to SWACO. There also are plans to construct a pyrolysis unit to convert plastics into petroleum distillates at the park.

"It is our goal to both build and attract proven technologies that can recover and use the resources of the landfill while generating clean power," Team Gemini President Douglas P. Haughn said in a statement. "The demand for renewable resources and energy are increasing. This project creates access to those resources on a concentrated industrial scale and will be made available to the marketplace."

SWACO expects to push 1,500 to 2,000 tons of waste rich in recyclables through the MRF each day in order to meet its obligation to provide Team Gemini with 1,000 tons per day of usable material. The landfill takes in about 4,000 tons per day.

Mills' long-term vision includes the idea of not only using all of the waste that comes into the facility daily but also mining previously buried waste to recapture value.

"Some countries in Europe no longer have landfills, because they are recycling 100% of their waste. Why can't we use those same technologies and have a similar goal?" Haughn said in his statement.

This would allow SWACO to "reduce this landfill back to ground level" eventually over time, Mills said.

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