Post on 19-Aug-2015
Waste Grinding Real World Results, Successes and
Challenges
Summary Information
GRRWA: Provides waste management services for a population of 50,000. Landfills an average of 65,000 tons per year. Services an area consisting of all of Lee County, Van Buren County,
unincorporated Henry County, and City of Hillsboro. Became an EMS facility in 2014.
Facilities include: An MSW landfill in Ft. Madison. A recycling center (including shingles recycling) in Ft. Madison. An RCC in Ft. Madison. A transfer station in Keokuk.
Why Grinding?
Facility is foot-print constrained. The only way to increase site life is to increase in-place waste density or reduce waste tonnage disposed. Grinding provides opportunities to due both.
Bottom Line: Maximize use of airspace.
Aerial Map
Decision Process
Initial interest began with Boone County presentation at the Fall 2013 ISOSWO conference.
Prepared financial analyses of costs and benefits of grinding waste.
Visited and interviewed entities currently using the type of grinder being considered.
Vendor delivered grinder to our site as a demonstration. Commission approval. Purchased grinder. Timeframe from idea to implementation: 9 months.
Expectations
Increase site life by 6 years or more. Increase life of compactor and earth moving
equipment. Fuel use reduction for compactor and cover
placement off-set by fuel increase for grinder. Increase in rate of waste stabilization through
more thorough “unpackaging” of the waste.
Process
Add video here
Initial Results
First 6 months – 58% of waste received was processed through grinder.
Increased Density – Overall density increased approximately 18% over previous evaluation. Estimated approximately 35% increase for ground portion.
Recycled approximately 70 additional tons of metal from 58% of waste stream in 6 months. Estimates from other users indicate that up to 4% of
the waste stream may be recoverable metal.
Challenges
Specific waste streams caused maintenance issues that resulted in significant downtime. Metal Turbine Blades Hoses
Staff acceptance and buy-in to new process. Learning and becoming efficient with new
operational procedures.
Lessons Learned
Significant portions of your waste stream may need to bypass the grinder. Approximately 42% of the waste was diverted
passed the grinder during the first 6 months. It may be necessary to change logistics of certain
wastes to allow segregation.
Lessons Learned (cont.)
Additional revenue potential exists by recovering more material from the waste stream. Recoverable metal may be up to 4% waste
representing up to $150,000 per year Other recyclables able to be separated more
easily.
Lessons Learned (Cont.)
Operational issues must be considered in placement of ground materials Site processes need to modified to maximize
compaction
Staff Buy-in Key to insure staff feels comfortable with new
process and the advantages of the system
Future Improvements
Grind in Building Will allow better access for users. Will allow additional opportunities for recovery of recyclable
materials. The building could be converted to transfer station at the
end of on-site disposal.
Covert System from Diesel to Electric Using LFG for to generate electricity to power the system has
the potential reduce diesel usage by over $90,000 per year and significantly reduce the carbon foot print for the process.
Future Improvements (cont.)
Use leachate to increase moisture content of ground waste prior to compaction Has the potential to provide increased in place
density Increase waste stabilization rate.
Questions
Contact
Wade Hamm, General Manager(319) 372-6140
whamm@grrwa.com