Renewable Energy
Through its subsidiary, Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., Waste Management owns and operates sixteen waste-to-energy facilities and five independent power-production facilities, which specialize in collecting municipal solid waste and transforming it into renewable electric power. Some of Wheelabrator’s facilities are also capable of generating electricity from materials such as waste wood, waste coal and natural gas.
Waste Management is also involved in landfill gas utilization, including landfill-gas-to-energy (LFGTE) production. The company has over 115 LFTGE facilities, and plans to add another 60 facilities by 2012. LFGTE facilities collect methane and carbon dioxide gases emitted during the natural anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in the landfill. These gases are then used to fuel engines or turbines that generate electricity to power surrounding areas.
In August 2009, Waste Management announced that it would join Valero Energy Corporation as a strategic investor in Terrabon L.L.C.’s waste-to-fuel conversion technology. Waste Management will also assist Terrabon in securing organic waste streams. Terrabon specializes in refining municipal solid wastes and sewage sludge into non-hazardous organic salts. The organic salts are then sent to Valero where it can be converted into gasoline, diesel or jet fuel.
Around this same time, Waste Management launched a joint venture with Oregon-based company InEnTec to form S4 Energy Solutions. S4 uses a process called plasma gasification (also known as plasma arc waste disposal) to heat waste materials until they break down to produce a synthesis gas, or syngas. The syngas can be converted into transportation fuels, such as ethanol or diesel, or can be used as a substitute for natural-gas heating and electricity.
In February 2010, Waste Management announced a strategic investment agreement with Enerkem Inc., a Canadian-based company that specializes in converting waste materials that are most often landfilled, such as carbon-based feedstock, municipal solid waste, construction and demolition wood and agricultural and forest residues, into biofuels like ethanol. The investment signifies Waste Management’s continued efforts to invest in upcoming green technologies and to double its renewable energy production.
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