Description of potential options. Combustion in Waste To Energy (WTE) Facilities Polymer-based insulation (e.g. polyurethane foams) can be incinerated in order to recover energy and to reduce its volume (to approx. <1%). Polymers have a high calorific value and can be burned with energy recovery, without giving off toxic or environmentally damaging fumes (if managed properly). It is also expensive to transport these lightweight wastes over long distances, also possibly negating environmental benefit of recovery. However, it may ultimately be one of the most favorable solutions for polymer-based insulation waste, particularly in the short-to-medium term. The material would still need to be recovered and segregated at end of life, but issues of contamination are likely to be of less importance. Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County operate a WTE facility in Commerce and have share of another facility also. The Commerce facility can handle up to 500 tons/day and they already take foam from appliances recyclers – typically 1-2 tons/day. They could do segregated C&D foam waste provided it wasn’t patched through at more than about 30 tons/day. Volumes over this level would create problems with the combustion cycle in the plant. They offer guaranteed ODS destruction certificates for clients who use these to generate carbon credits – which acts as a stimulus for such efforts. The cost of disposing waste through this WTE plant is $65/ton (slightly more than landfill, but not by a wide margin). Certified destruction would cost in the region of $220/ton. Foam can be considered a residual waste only, because it has no value once the wood and other valuables have been stripped out. The City of Commerce facility in Los Angeles took 140 tons of appliance foams in 2007 and 185 tons in 2008. That unit does 500 tons/per day of MSW waste and maybe 1 or 2 tons of foam per day - so a very small part. By comparison, another facility in Spokane took 30 tons of appliance foam in 2007 and 90 tons in 2008. Covanta in Stanislaus has an 800 tons/day capacity, and did 170 tons of appliances foam in 2007 and 100 tons in 2008. There are larger plants in the north-eastern US, handling 2-3000 tons/day - so they may be able to handle more foam, although the transport costs and impacts would probably make this unviable from economic and environmental perspectives. Other operators were less positive about the prospect of taking foam waste in anything other than very small quantities. WTE plants are listed by heat input....
