New York town approves contract with waste-to-energy facility

Entsorga North America, a subsidiary of BioHiTech Global, both headquartered in Chestnut Ridge, New York, has made an agreement with the town of New Winsdor, New York, to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility on 12 acres of land at the Stewart International Airport, a report by the Times Herald-Record says.

The agreement, approved by the Town Board, gives the company up to two years to purchase the land for $1.1. million, the report says. The town has been in negotiations with Entsorga since the summer.

The company plans to use the facility to produce solid refuse fuel from municipal solid waste (MSW), which can be burned to generate power. According to the report, the facility is one of three WTE projects competing for Orange County, New York’s waste.

According to the report, the company mechanically sorts recyclables like metal and glass from the waste and uses oxidation and composting to process the MSW. The process does not require incineration or combustion.

The fuel product produced by Entsorga has been used in power plants, steel plants and gasification plants, the report says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined the product is a non-waste fuel in 2013, which means it provides a large amount of energy and has contaminant levels equal to or less than traditional fuels.

Orange County’s current contract with Interstate Waste Services, headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, to haul waste to landfills expires in November 2018.