Entsorga Italia SpA is based in Tortona, Italy. It was founded in 1997 on the basis of leveraging technology to improve environmental protection and standards. Today, Entsorga is a leading provider of technologies such as composting, mechanical biological treatment (MBT) and anaerobic digestion for both organic and municipal solid wastes. Here, the company’s Managing Director and President of the Board Pier Cella speaks to Global Cement’s Peter Edwards about a new and exciting project with the Essroc Martinsburg cement plant in West Virginia, USA.
Company and process introduction
Global Cement (GC): Please could you briefly introduce Entsorga?
Pier Cella (PC): Entsorga is a technology company that is a provider of composting, aerobic and anaerobic digestion and mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants. The company has an impressive track record of plants that it has built in Europe and North Africa.
Now we are building a new plant in the US while many projects are in the pipeline in other countries such as Canada and Brazil, as well as in the Far East. Entsorga has developed a comprehensive suite of proven and bankable solutions aimed at improving environmental protection, including the Entsorga MBT process.
GC: How does the MBT process work?
PC: The MBT process is a proven technology that has successfully been used to meet European reduced landfill disposal requirements, develop more economically-feasible methods for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and create an environmentally low impact method of solid waste disposal.
The process converts MSW to solid recovered fuel (SRF) to a required specification in four stages: reception, pre-treatment, biological treatment and refining. The mechanical pre-treatment prepares the input waste. The biological treatment harnesses the bio-energy within the organic fraction of the waste to trigger aerobic fermentation, which develops heat from the organic fraction to be used for waste drying. Temperatures are typically in the region of 40 - 50°C but only around 3% of the total organic fraction is consumed by this process. Due to its biogenic content it is eligible to be considered as a Renewable source. On top of this, it was also confirmed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as meeting the eligibility criteria to be considered a
‘non-waste’ product.
Further mechanical refinement of the product removes inerts, metals and undesirable plastics, allowing for the production of a specified SRF, while recovering recyclable material. It takes around 15 to 20 days from the time of receipt of the MSW at the facility to the generation of the SRF.
The perks of the MBT process are: Low operation and labour costs; Low CO2 footprint and low energy consumption; Efficient process management and automation; Low investment costs; Small plant footprint; A safe and clean working environment and: Low energy loss from raw MSW to the SRF.
A new plant at Martinsburg
GC: Why is there a new MBT plant being built in Martinsburg, rather than elsewhere in the US?
PC: This is a great story actually! At the 3rd Global CemFuels Conference in Toronto, Canada in 2009, one of our employees met Gianni Gallozzi, the Alternative Fuel Director of Italcementi (Essroc’s parent company), in the elevator. They shook hands and discovered that they were the only two Italians at the conference. They started to talk about alternative fuels and SRF.
After that first introduction, a meeting in Italy followed, during which Italcementi declared itself willing to have an SRF stream for its revamped plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA, which was about to be completed.
From that time onwards, we started to work on the project, creating the public consensus in the area, applying for permits, achieving non-waste status for the SRF from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and, finally, building up the funding.
This work included the founding of Entsorga West Virginia, which is a joint venture between Apple Valley Waste Technologies, Entsorga Italia SpA and Chemtex International Inc. Entsorga West Virginia is now in the process of developing the MBT SRF production plant in Martinsburg.
GC: What is the relationship like with Essroc?
PC: The relationship has always been very productive. Essroc has focused on the strategy of replacing fossil fuels with alternative fuels, so it is a ‘win-win’ partnership.
Essroc and Italcementi, with their technical strength, helped a lot in defining the dialogue with the EPA about the use of SRF and in achieving the ‘non-waste’ status. Being the largest local employer, the plant gave the project massive credibility. Lastly, the plant has entered into an offset contract for SRF that made funding possible. Without Essroc, the project simply wouldn’t have been possible.
GC: How has the local population reacted?
PC: We have found that the local residents are very willing to know more about the new plant and understand the process. There is a very high level of environmental awareness. A non-profit organisation called the Berkeley County Waste Authority (BCWA) is pushing for better waste management and reduced dependency on landfill in the local area. This is particularly pertinent in West Virginia, as the ground is very porous. This means that, if the landfill leaks, there are massive consequences on the quality of groundwater supplies.
When the BCWA saw the plans for the plant, understood them and became convinced that the process was sound, it became extremely supportive. It has great credibility in the local area, so that has helped massively in terms of informing the community. The BCWA has been key in helping this
project to fly.
It is important to remember that our wider neighbouring community includes the politicians in Washington. We hope that the plant can become a well-known example of good waste management.
GC: What will be the plant’s business model?
PC: The plant will be owned by Entsorga West Virginia. The fuel will be delivered to the Essroc cement plant and used as a supplement to coal. Entsorga West Virginia and Essroc have entered into a long-term contract for the provision and acceptance of the SRF.
The SRF will have an agreed specification and will have a positive gate fee, which will provide a revenue for the Entsorga West Virginia plant. In addition, the plant will get the gate fee for the waste in the range of US$50 - 55/t. The incoming waste is regulated and guaranteed by a long-term contract with a local hauler and Apple Valley Waste.
Funding has been supported by the State of West Virginia, which issued industrial bonds for US$25m to finance the construction. The bond will be repaid within 15 years.
GC: Can you describe the design of the new plant in Martinsburg in detail?
PC: The waste is tipped by collection vehicles into reception pits. One of two cranes will grab the material and load it into the mechanical pre-treatment section where the bags are opened and the oversize material removed. At this point the material will be split into two fractions: overscreen, typically >150 - 250mm which will be sent for mechanical treatment and underscreen, which will undergo biological treatment.
The underscreen will be transferred into the biological treatment area, where it will undergo an aerobic fermentation process to evaporate the moisture from the waste. This process lasts 10 - 15 days. Once the waste is dry, it can be loaded into the mechanical refinement system where the unwanted fractions are removed by means of screeners, magnets and near infra-red sorters. The final SRF is removed and properly granulated in order to obtain a product meeting the specification required by the cement plant.
Finally the SRF is loaded into moving floor trailers and transported to the docking station and pneumatic feeding line, which is also supplied by Entsorga, before delivery to the calciner at the Martinsburg cement plant. The fact that we supply the SRF directly to the calciner is an important part of the project, as it means we can serve plants with energy at a known price directly to the plant.
The MBT plant will receive 110,000t/yr of MSW and commercial industrial waste and, at full capacity, it will be capable of producing approximately 50,000t/yr of SRF. Over 75% of the total incoming waste will be reduced, converted or recycled.
Like all similar installations, the plant will be under negative pressure to avoid odour release. The process air will also be filtered and cleaned through a biofilter.
GC: Is the plant a typical Entsorga design or does it have some unique features?
PC: This is broadly a typical Entsorga design but it does have some unique features like being capable of treating both MSW and commercial and industrial waste at the same time. Another feature is the implementation of a new near-infra-red sorter that we call ‘The Falcon,’ which Entsorga developed specifically for SRF. The equipment is aimed for sorting out PVC from SRF in order to keep the level of chlorine very low. However, at the same time, it is capable of analysing the quality of the SRF in terms of composition, moisture and calorific value. It gives real-time information about the SRF quality.
The Entsorga technology takes MSW treatment to the next level in the US and creates an EPA recognised ‘engineered fuel.’ This means that facilities using SRF produced by the Entsorga technology, as an alternative fuel, will not be subject to the EPA Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator (CISWI) rule and that the engineered SRF meets certain standards that other fuels cannot meet.
GC: What are the environmental benefits?
PC: This plant will not only have a significant impact on reducing the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, but it will have a meaningful impact on fossil fuel dependency. It is a ‘sneak peek’ at the next generation of waste collection and disposal in the US.
The use of SRF from the Entsorga process has been proven to generate emissions comparable to or less than those found in traditional US fuels like coal or petcoke. Facilities that have used SRF as an alternative fuel have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions and their overall CO2 footprint. As a result of less MSW being disposed of in landfills, a substantial emissions reduction of 24,800t/yr of CO2 equivalent will be achieved.
The Martinsburg plant’s alternative fuel substitution rate is currently around 3 - 4%, due mostly to the use of tyres. Once the MBT plant is fully up and running, this will go up to approximately 30%, which is also the current limit set by the plant’s permit.
GC: What has been the biggest challenge in the construction project so far and how was this overcome?
PC: This is the first plant of its kind to be built in the US. There have been plants that convert waste to refuse-derived fuel (RDF) but, in most cases, this was in the form of pellets with a much lower quality than what we expect to produce.
In the end the real big challenge was the long lead time of the project. When opening up this new type of facility, both permitting and funding were difficult. We needed five years to deliver the project. Over such a long period of time things change, the people in charge, the economic situation, the politics, the laws. Thanks to the strong commitment of all the players involved, the project has now reached construction.
GC: When will erection be complete and when is production expected to start?
PC: The ground-breaking of the plant took place on 6 January 2016 and the plant is expected to be operational in mid 2017.
GC: Do you expect the US waste stream to behave any differently from European waste streams?
PC: Waste production per capita in the US is nearly twice that of Europe. Around 167Mt is produced per year and an incredible 137Mt/yr is landfilled. The MSW that is currently being landfilled has a high calorific value due to high content of plastic and is higher than in Europe. As a result of this, we expect to have higher SRF yields and higher SRF quality.
The US market and the future
GC: What are your hopes for the alternative fuels / MBT sector in US over the next five to 10 years?
PC: The Martinsburg plant is our flagship and ‘showroom’ in the US. Now that the path is open we expect to replicate the business model many times. The alternative fuel substitution ratio in the US is much lower than what we have in Europe and we are very willing to help close that gap.In the area from Washington to Boston alone there are many cement kilns, just think of the Lehigh Valley! My dream is to be capable of creating a stable, valuable SRF stream for each kiln. This way we can massively improve upon current waste management practices and save millions of tonnes of CO2.
GC: Where else does Entsorga plan to develop MBT facilities in the coming years?
PC: Our most promising new projects are in South America, Canada and the Far East. Recent developments show that China will be a massive SRF user but we are still at a very early stage of the business development there.
Our work is heavily influenced by the price of fossil fuels, which, at the moment, are very low. Despite this, the alternative fuel strategies of cement companies are long-term strategies. We do not expect the current situation will jeopardise the market in the longer term, even if some delays are inevitable.
It is important, especially as we are now involved in the US, to remember that this is a market-based solution. It does not require any subsidies. The model is not only relevant to the US but, with minor modifications, can be applied to any country where there is a cement kiln. We are willing to pursue projects all over the world.
GC: Thank you very much indeed for your time.
PC: You are very welcome. Thank you!