Republic Services recently began operation of its ash metal recovery facility at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill. Once recovered, metals will be recycled and re-purposed to make new metal products. (Submitted photo)
Republic Services recently began operation of its ash metal recovery facility at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill. Once recovered, metals will be recycled and re-purposed to make new metal products. (Submitted photo)
Republic Services, Inc. and Lab USA unveiled a state-of-the-art ash metal recovery facility on June 14 at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill.
The advanced process allows for the reclamation of metals found in ash previously lost through traditional methods of resource recovery. The facility is set to process all newly delivered ash to the Roosevelt Landfill as well as systematically process all of the existing ash currently in the landfill. Once recovered, the metals are recycled, shipped to manufacturers and repurposed to make new metal products.
“Environmental challenges require innovative solutions. We are proud to partner with Lab USA and remain committed to identifying advanced technologies and resources that allow us to repurpose valuable commodities to make new products,“ stated Mike Huycke, area president with Republic Services. “We must lead by example, working diligently to preserve our natural environment through innovative landfill and processing technologies.”
The facility is estimated to recover and recycle over 46,200 tons of ferrous metals and 42,900 tons of non-ferrous metals. Ferrous metals are those which contain iron such as steel, stainless steel and cast iron. Non-ferrous metals are those that do not contain iron and do not have a magnetic quality such as aluminum, copper, lead and tin.
Roosevelt Landfill utilizes the waste collected from municipalities across Washington and converts the methane gas (CH4) into a renewable energy source. Working with the Klickitat Public Utility District, the landfill currently provides enough energy to power up to 30,000 local households annually.
The volume of metals recovered and recycled through this facility will have measurable environmental impacts. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, the energy consumption of recycling iron is 20 percent lower than that of mining and processing iron from natural resources.
The International Copper Association reported that the energy savings from recycling copper is approximately 60 percent lower that of mining copper from natural resources. The planned recovery of 46,200 tons of ferrous metals from this facility is equivalent to constructing approximately six Eiffel Towers.
The expected recovery of 4,290 tons of copper could make approximately 24.9 million linear feet of half-inch copper piping used to carry water in households. That is enough pipe to stretch from Roosevelt to New Orleans, La. and back. Reclaiming these metals that were previously lost through traditional methods of resource recovery significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
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