The Cadmus Group Taps Burns & McDonnell for US EPA Waste-to-Energy Project

Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Mo., has been tapped as part of a team to work with Boston-based The Cadmus Group Inc. for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Assessment of Waste-to-Energy Infrastructure project. Technical consultants from Burns & McDonnell’s Solid Waste Practice Group will work with the project team lead, Cadmus, a social good consultancy with areas of specialization in environmental sustainability and energy program planning and design. As part of the project, they will assess WTE (waste-to-energy) recovery technologies and end products, such as energy and biofuels. The assessment is designed to provide tools for community decision-makers across the country to make comparisons relevant to them, while enabling them to leverage waste as an energy resource. 

“We’re excited that our expertise in established and emerging waste-to-energy technologies has been identified for this project and we are proud to be working with Cadmus in evaluating approaches to foster sustainability for communities throughout the United States,” says Robert Craggs, department manager of the solid waste practice at Burns & McDonnell. “With a number of conversion technologies becoming potentially viable along with public policy incentives to foster renewable energy, it’s crucial for communities to determine which technology best suits their sustainability needs for the future. Through this project the EPA intends to help empower them in making informed decisions.” 
 

The assessment of WTE infrastructure project is comprised of a set of key tasks. These tasks include the creation of a database of existing and proposed WTE technologies and projects, high-level technical and environmental analysis of the WTE technologies, and a written report for federal, state and local regulators. Specifically, the report will highlight the state of readiness and include environmental and economic consequences for deployment of each technology. 

By providing information about existing infrastructure as well as commercial or near-commercial innovative processes, the database will allow community leaders to compare and contrast the various WTE options, such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration-to-energy, liquefaction and plasma arc

Technical consultants involved on the project work within the Burns & McDonnell Solid Waste Practice Group that provides expertise in planning, financial analysis, services procurement, feasibility, permitting, operations and program assessments, design, and construction oversight, as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. The firm plays a critical role in the successful implementation of solid waste projects and programs across the country.