Cleveland Recycling and Energy Generation Center Project
GBB Assisting in Evaluating Development Options

GBB is continuing its evaluation of development options for the Cleveland Recycling and Energy Generation (CREG) Center project. The City of Cleveland hired GBB to review options for the CREG Center project which seeks to better manage the City's municipal solid waste, with the potential for using waste as a source for locally-produced energy. 

Joining GBB for this assignment are five firms with complementary backgrounds that will work seamlessly with GBB, bringing to the table their local understanding and/or in-depth experience in keys areas of expertise for this important project. They are: NTH Consultants, Ltd., McGuiness Unlimited, Inc., and Whelan Communications, Inc., which are all based in Cleveland; GT Environmental, Inc., based in Ohio; and RMF Engineering, Inc.

In September 2011, the Division of Cleveland Public Power (CPP) began a procurement process for the development of the project and initially issued a Request for Information and Qualifications (RFIQ), followed later by a Supplemental Request for Information and Qualification (SRIQ), that targeted a wide variety of waste conversion and management approaches, including recycling, composting, thermal conversion, pyrolysis, gasification,  and fuel production, as well as consulting and financial firms to assist in project development.

The GBB Project Team will review, analyze, and evaluate the responses received through the RFIQ and SRIQ; evaluate gasification to energy development efforts; evaluate the co-generation opportunity; and provide a shortlist and comparison of the three best overall options, along with a life cycle analysis of each, and; make overall recommendations on how to develop the CREG Center.

The City of Cleveland Department of Public Works operates the Division of Waste Collection and Disposal (DWC), which provides weekly collection of waste from 155,000 homes, the City's West Side Market, Fire and Police Stations, the Justice Center, City Hall and other City buildings and public areas. DWC also operates the Ridge Road Transfer Station, where all MSW is brought before going to landfills. The City has an Advance Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) that requires CPP to diversify its power supply. The AEPS requires CPP to purchase at least 15% of its base load power from advanced and renewable sources by 2015, 20% by 2020, and 25% by 2025. CPP has entered agreements for several renewable and advance energy projects including hydropower, solar, and waste-to-energy anaerobic digestion technology projects and is expected to meet the 2015 milestone.

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John Carlton, PE, BCEE and Chris Lund, PE, have joined GBB co-founders Harvey Gershman and Bob Brickner in the ownership group of the firm. Mr. Carlton has also been promoted to Senior Vice President.

Mr. Carlton joined GBB as Vice President in December 2011. He has more than 22 years of solid waste management experience, both as a consultant and in executive positions for public-sector authorities.

"Both the new position and participation in GBB's ownership are extremely exciting, and represent a great opportunity for me. Harvey and Bob have built a world class solid waste consulting firm based on quality, value, ethics and results. The firm has accomplished great things and has caused positive impacts in the solid waste management industry. It is an honor to join forces with them."

-- John Carlton
GBB Senior Vice President

Mr. Lund joined GBB in April 2008 as a Senior Project Engineer and was promoted to Vice President in August 2009.

"Joining GBB's ownership group is a great opportunity to be directly involved with Harvey and Bob, who have been a driving force behind the firm's success for over 32 years. I look forward to contributing to the firm's excellent work and growth for years to come."

-- Chris Lund
GBB Vice President

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Unlocking the Vast Potential of Energy Recovery

This past summer, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) hosted a forum on Capitol Hill entitled "Unlocking the Vast Potential of Energy Recovery," where an overview of the latest waste-to-energy (WTE) and conversion technology (CT) trends was presented. Expanded use of energy recovery as an abundant and alternative energy source was discussed, and legislative strategies to boost private sector investments were outlined.

Cal Dooley, ACC President and CEO, was joined by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Congressman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and a panel of business leaders and experts, moderated by Harvey Gershman, GBB President.

"The waste that isn't recycled here, on Capitol Hill, goes to a waste-to-energy facility in Alexandria, Virginia to make power for the grid, and has done that reliably for over 20 years," noted Gershman. "We recycle over 30 percent of our waste now in the U.S., and there is potential to do more. Waste-to-energy plants work hand in hand with robust recycling programs and generally have higher recycling rates than communities that do not have waste-to-energy facilities. But at the end of the day, too much is transported to landfills and buried, slowly rotting and generating methane that can be recovered for energy. This is energy inefficient and not what we should be doing. We need to get more out of our waste than we do now."

Watch a 4-minute video with highlights of the meeting:

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Mobile App Spotlight

This feature of the GBB Waste Outlook showcases one of the growing number of free or low-cost mobile apps related to recycling or to the solid waste management industry in general. Readers are encouraged to contact gbb@gbbinc.com to suggest interesting apps that should be featured in future newsletters.

TrashOut

TrashOut is a free crowd-sourcing app, for Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone, with an aim at collecting reports of illegal dumping around the world. The app makes use of GPS, the camera, and mapping.  

As a TrashOut user, you report illegal dumps you find. Take a picture, then touch the icons to describe the trash. Select an icon to indicate the size of the dump-a bag, a wheelbarrow, a truck-and up to 9 waste types: "household," "automotive," even "dangerous." You can add comments like, "I found it hiking in Lakeside Park."  

Once your report is uploaded to TrashOut, it is visible on the TrashMap. You can view yours and other users' reports in detail. You can confirm other users' report, too. 

TrashOut app has been recognized by tech forums and app competitions. Currently, it only feeds itself-i.e., the reports are not yet forwarded to any agency. Users are encouraged to use TrashOut for community cleanups or to share the information with local agencies. The technology could be available for use by a locality or other cleanup organization in the future and be a powerful tool for routing and scheduling clean ups and dumping law enforcement.  

More information and download: www.trashout.me

* Featured apps are not endorsed by GBB... we just think they're cool!

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