Trash plant
MIRA plant set to close; state looking for solution.
The agency that runs the regional trash-to-energy plant in Hartford has set June 30, 2022 as a target date to stop burning garbage and truck the waste instead to out-of-state landfills.
Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority President TomKirk said Monday that he does not see costs to MIRA’s 51 member communities changing significantly after the conversion to a transfer station, but that will depend on the price of transportation and capacity of out-of-state landfills. Garbage is to be trucked to landfills in states that include Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
Rock-bottom energy prices and the refusal of state and municipal leaders to fund upgrades to the electrical plant prompted agency leaders’ decision in May to start the conversion.
Built in the 1940s, the mighty turbines that generate electricity from burning up to 720,000 tons of garbage each year have undergone major repairs since catastrophic failures in November 2017. Still, Kirk said, “the plant is old and tired and in need of a capital infusion,” so significant repairs in the future would not make sense and the conversion would accelerate if another breakdown happens.
The changeover, however, also could be delayed if the turbines keep spinning and energy prices rise, Kirk said, but for now, the target date is the end of fiscal year 2021-22.
Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this year rejected state funding for a $330 million proposed upgrade of the power plant, saying he could not support “sending hundreds of millions of state taxpayer or electric ratepayer dollars to MIRA to attempt to keep a failing, decadesold facility running, right here in Hartford, where it impacts our vulnerable residents.”
Communities that MIRA serves also refused to cover the upgrade costs through higher disposal fees.
Lamont also has said, “Apermanent trash export operation is also a nonstarter. It’s time for new ideas.” Kirk said he agrees. Leaders of states that now accept garbage from outside their borders are likely to reassess the costs and benefits of those deals, he said. But for now, no other short-term solution is on the table.
MIRA carries contracts with 51 towns, and 50 of those contracts extend through 2027.
Each year in March, municipal leaders have the option of ending their agreements. Currently, towns pay MIRA $93 per ton.
“We estimate that our costs will be competitive with the cost of ‘spot’ waste disposal via transfer,” he said. “Private haulers presently pay a cost of disposal to western landfills of about $90 a ton. MIRA estimates we can provide similar services at a similar cost.”
But Kirk also said he would not be surprised to see disposal costs rise in a few years when a COVID-caused reduction in the waste streams changes. Costs to municipalities also will depend on the availability of trucks, drivers, fuel prices and other transportation costs, including highway tolls and taxes.
And as landfill capacity in the region decreases, Kirk said, “we expect the price for export will rise in the Connecticut market.” MIRA, he added, “expects to be able to remain competitive in these scenarios.”
Asked if rail transport was an option, Kirk said there is a rail spur to the Hartford facility, but making it operational would involve years of permitting applications.
One big advantage of rail, he said, is that waste could be transferred far beyond Northeastern landfills, providing more options. Trains now carry much of the 700,000 tons of construction and demolition waste exported from the state each year, Kirk said. Waste from a Willimantic transfer station, for example, is transported by rail to Alabama, he said.
A long-term solution to the waste crisis, everyone agrees, is reducing waste generation.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection touts a partnership with towns called the Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management.
The idea, according to the agency, is to explore ways to reduce the amount of waste and improve reuse, recycling, organics collection and other innovative solutions.
Up to 40% of the current trash stream is organic material, including food waste and textiles, Kirk said. Food scraps, in particular, are relatively easy to separate, especially at restaurants and institutions such as schools, he said.
Convincing more individual households to recycle organic garbage, however, will not be easy. The waste crisis, Kirk said, requires “a wholesale evolution.”