Hartford Business Journal

www.CTGreenGuide.com SprinG 2014 • Connecticut Green Guide 19 "It is a necessary part of the waste stream for items that can't be recycled or composted, and it is preferable to burying waste in the ground," said Macky McCleary, depu- ty commissioner for environmental quality at the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. Connecticut was the first U.S. state – and remains really the only one – to commit to trash-to-energy, an industry started in the 1970s that has grown into six plants processing 2.3 million tons of garbage annually. Rather than burying trash in a landfill, trash-to-energy burns it to generate electricity. After it is burned, the volume of the garbage is reduced about 90 percent. "It is a great aspiration to have no waste at all," said Tom Kirk, president of the Connecticut Resources Re- covery Authority, a quasi-state agency that operates the largest of the six trash-to-energy plants. "It is a great aspiration, but it is not realistic, bordering on naïve." Trash-to-energy plants generate revenue primarily in two ways, both of which are struggling: tipping fees for disposing of waste, and selling electricity. They also receive renewable energy credits and sell materials like metal recycled out of the waste stream. The problem with tipping fees is two-fold. First, com- petition in the industry has driven down the rate by about 10 percent. Second, the amount of garbage has fallen since the Great Recession and will decline even further. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is pushing to increase the state's recycling rate from 25 percent to 60 percent over the next 10 years. Connecticut already made strides in recycling paint, mattress, food, and construction debris and has its sights set on other items like batteries and carpet. Less waste to burn not only means less tipping fee revenue but also less fuel to generate electricity, which is entering its own pricing crisis. U.S. Waste American businesses and residents generate about 400 million tons of trash annually. Here is how it is disposed of: Trash-to-Energy ..................................... 7% Landfill .................................................64% Recycled ...............................................29% SouRCe: CoLuMBiA univeRSiTy, PeRCenTAGeS BASeD on 2004 DATA Connecticut Waste Business & residents created 3.2 million tons of trash in fiscal year 2011. Here is where it went: CT Trash-to-Energy..............................64% CT Recycled ..........................................25% out-of-State Landfills ............................ 7% out-of-State Trash-to-Energy ............... 3% CT Landfills ............................................ 1% SouRCe: CoHnRezniCK Green fact: Connecticut sends more of its waste to trash-to- energy (67%) than any other state. The next closest is Massachusetts at 37%. SourCe: Columbia univeRSiTy

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