United States Press Office (A-107) Environmental Protection Washington DC 20460 Agency vvEPA Environmental News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1980 Woods (202) 755-0344 EPA TO HOLD RESOURCE RECOVERY WORKSHOPS Want to know how to turn your community's trash and garbage into energy? Or how to recover valuable metal, glass and paper from that trash? The Environmental Protection Agency will hold two workshops for public officials, citizens, and consul- tants on the technologies now available to turn municipal solid waste into usable energy. EPA will also discuss systems available to separate metal, glass and paper from waste. EPA will hold the first workshop on May 28 & 29 in Newark, New Jersey on the availability of alternative trash-to-energy technologies and other resource recovery systems. This seminar is intended for general audiences. The second workshop will be held on June 25 & 26 in Providence, Rhode Island on overcoming procedural obstacles in putting the technologies to work. This workshop is intended for officials who are about to become involved in an actual resource recovery project. The Newark seminar will feature two strong advocates of resource recovery: U.S. Congressman James J. Florio (D-NJ) who will be keynote speaker, and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) who will address the opening day luncheon. Nineteen trash-to-energy plants are currently in operation in cities across the country, turning nearly 5500 tons of municipal trash a day into valuable fuel, steam and methane gas. Just recently, for example. Akron, Ohio started up one of the Nation's most sophisticated waste-to-energy recycling systems, converting 1000 tons of municipal trash a day into 350,000 pounds of steam an hour. This R-71 (more) ------- -2- steam is then piped to 250 local downtown businesses, saving them up to 20 percent in traditional energy costs. Akron's plant alone saves the country the equivalent of 500,000 barrels of oil a year. EPA Administrator Douglas M. Costle points out that "every day close to half a million tons of newspapers, cereal boxes, plastic food wrappers, bottles, cans and every other commodity that man produces is thrown away in this country. This municipal solid waste contains four trillion BTU's of energy. We believe that one day, half to three-fourths of this waste can be recovered through resource recovery facilities, eventually providing one percent of our Nation's daily consumption of energy. "In the past, it has been cheaper and easier for communities to burn or landfill municipal solid waste. Stricter air pollution laws now have put an end to most incineration of municipal waste, and land costs are becoming too high to provide adequate landfills for growing volumes of waste. "Converting trash to fuel is becoming an economical and feasible alternative. Fuel can be sold to industries or local utilities to supplement their energy needs, helping communities offset some of the initial costs required to set up the energy recovery facilities. "EPA is now providing direct technical and financial assistance to 63 communities in 37 States to address the complex technical, financial, legistative and other institutional barriers to setting up resource recovery systems. Our assistance is enabling these cities to hire capable managers and obtain adequate consulting services for tasks such as obtaining a long-term commitment for waste supply, conducting market surveys, reviewing technologies, and obtaining financing and public support." EPA has developed a new Resource Recovery Management Model which participants at the Providence, R.I. workshop will be able to use in developing strategies for implementation of resource recovery systems. Attendance at both workshops will be limited. All persons interested in attending should contact: EPA Seminar/Workshop PSS & Associates, Suite 603 1435 G Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 331-1103 R-71 # * # ------- >0909 11 09W3 IH3 IS NH08MV30 S OH AdVtian A N 0 I 9 3 M Vd3 100 ^00000*,efc f-to • '¦ ¥ WU«0 S Vd 30 se-o ON J!UU0d Vd3 P|Bd ssej pue gSeisod new 88Bo-isjy 09WC 0Q uo|Bumse/v\ ooe$ asn eiBAMd joj Mieuaj sseujsng ppyjo Aauafiy uoioaiojd miMuiuoiiAU3 »w»S poiiun ------- |