Where Does Our Trash Go?

When we throw trash away in Wheaton or anywhere else in Montgomery County, where does it go? Where is “away”? When I ask people if they know where our trash goes, most simply say the dump.   I have found that “away” is at the Old Dominion Landfill near Richmond, Virginia, and its journey there is very interesting. Not long ago I went on a tour of the county’s Resource Recovery Facility (RRF), which is in Dickerson MD.  When we throw trash away, the RRF is an important part of its journey to its final destination in Virginia. What struck me immediately when I arrived at the RRF was that there was no smoke coming from the stack, no loud noises, and no garbage odors.  I assumed that since it was Saturday morning, it was not operating.  I was wrong, the facility was fully operational. The tour was amazing.  As an engineer, I sort of felt like I was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.  I thought it was an amazing place where trash was turned into treasure.

Before I explain what is at the RRF, I want to give a little background.  During the late 1980s, there was a struggle about where to site our next landfill. This was a big problem. Though recycling is good, it was not going to address the problem of how to manage all the trash.   There was a need for a long-term solution for the waste. Landfills have their environmental problems.  Landfills shift environmental problems such as leachate (toxins in liquids that leak into ground water), high long term costs of maintaining old landfills, and potential liabilities to the future generations. According to the EPA, landfills are also a major source of methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to climate change. New landfills are also difficult to site.   With so much waste being generated in the county, all the waste management options would have an environmental impact. A Waste-to-Energy plant, which is part of the RRF, is no different.  The burning process can create dioxins and other toxic byproducts in the ash and out the smoke stack.   An RRF, however, can greatly reduce the volume of trash and allow the extraction of energy and ferrous metals, while using technology to greatly reduce the amounts dioxins, mercury and other toxic material released into the environment.  According to the facility manager, approximately 10,000 tons of ferrous metals are extracted from the ash at the RRF each year.  This metal earns the county well over a million dollars.  Deciding on the best long-term strategy for managing our waste in the late 1980s was very difficult.  A divided County Council eventually voted to use an integrated solid waste management program that included the RRF, but first worked to reduce waste though reducing, reusing and recycling.  A long term goal of recycling 50% of the waste was established.  What could not be reduced, reused, recycled would be sent to the RRF, where energy would be extracted and ferrous metals would be removed from the ashes by large magnets. The RRF’s facility management was very supportive of the county’s integrated waste management program.  In fact the plant operates more efficiently without the recyclable metals and glass.

How does the RRF work? Large rail cars from the Shady Grove Waste Transfer Station deliver 30 ton “logs” of compacted trash in waste containers.  Trucks at the RRF take the waste containers and tip them into a huge trash pit. Giant claws grab the trash and send it to the boiler feed where it burns and heats water to steam.  The steam turns turbines which generates electricity. All this is monitored and adjusted from a control room.  Not only does the staff monitor the sensors in the RRF, but they also monitor wholesale market price for electricity.  The staff uses the wholesale market prices to determine how much trash to burn and how much electricity to generate. The facility can handle up to 1,800 tons of trash per day, generating up to 60 Megawatts of electricity, enough to power 37,000 homes.  The plant is currently operating at 82 percent capacity. The hot gases generated from the boiler are treated and filtered before going out a large stack.  The resource recovery process does not stop with the generation of electricity. Magnets extract the ferrous metals from the ash, and then the ash is loaded into waste containers that are much smaller than the waste containers used to ship the trash to the RRF.  These containers are then transported by rail to the Old Dominion Landfill in Virginia.  Since 1995 the fee for hauling homeowner waste has only increased from $240 to $280 per year for each homeowner, who pays this fee with along with your property taxes.  This increase is substantially less than cost of living increases.   The relatively low price we pay for trash removal is due in large part to the RRF staff and our integrated solid waste management plan.

As I noted in my earlier blog posts about recycling, Montgomery County now has a recycle goal of 70%, and the RRF is an important part of our county’s strategy to reach our goal of 70%.  One interesting fact I learned during the tour is that all the ash sent to the landfill in Virginia is used as either an alternate daily cover for the Old Dominion Landfill or is mixed with asphalt and used for roads at the Old Dominion Landfill.  Because this ash replaces another product, we can take get “recycling credits” which will help us reach our recycle goal of 70%.  Before it is “recycled” for these uses, the ash is sent to another processing plant, also located at the Old Dominion Landfill, where the non-ferrous metals (aluminum, brass, copper, etc.), are extracted from the ash.

What I found especially inspiring was the role of citizen groups who pushed for a more sustainable solution to our waste problems. Local citizen groups worked for not only a safer facility, but one where there is a culture of constant improvement. We now have a state-of-the-art facility and staff and leadership that strive to go beyond what is required to what is the best that can be done to ensure public safety.  As part of the deal to install a RRF, citizen groups successfully advocated for an aggressive recycling program which was also initiated in the early 1990s.  The recycling program appears to be working. There was, for example, no cardboard in sight in the RRF’s trash pit. By using an integrated waste management approach, the size and the environmental impact of the RRF was reduced. 

How can you help?  By becoming informed about how we manage our waste, you can learn how to make a significant impact on the environment. It important to remove not only recyclable materials from the trash, but also remove Household Hazardous Waste.  With our population growing, it is important to also work to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place.  You can also help by purchasing products with high recycled content.  This is called “rebuying,” and it helps create a market for the materials we recycle. Are you interested in learning more about the RRF? Visit their website.  Are you interested in participating in a tour if GreenWheaton arranges one this summer?  Contact me at edward_b_murtagh@yahoo.com. If there is enough interest, we will arrange one. 

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