Republic Services, Inc. and Lab USA unveiled a state-of-the-art ash metal recovery facility at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington.
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.
The facility is estimated to recover and recycle over 46,200 tons of ferrous metals and 42,900 tons of nonferrous metals. Ferrous metals are those which contain iron such as steel, stainless steel and cast iron. Nonferrous 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.
Published in the July 2016 Edition of American Recycler News
