In trying to find the best solution to their solid waste disposal needs, the City of Los Angeles ranked 10 solid waste technologies based on how best the technologies addressed the city’s needs and on the Solid Waste Diversion Hierarchy; which is a framework that prioritizes waste management strategies in order of environmental impact and sustainability.
The hierarchy is designed to guide waste management practices and promote the most preferable options for handling waste materials. The waste diversion hierarchy consists of the following five levels:
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Prevention: The highest level of the hierarchy is waste prevention. It focuses on reducing the generation of waste at the source. This includes initiatives such as reducing packaging, implementing efficient production processes, promoting product design for durability and recyclability, and encouraging consumer behavior that minimizes waste.
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Reuse: The next level involves reusing products or materials to extend their lifespan. It entails finding alternative uses for items that are still functional or can be repaired, refurbished, or repurposed. Examples include donating used goods, using refillable containers, or purchasing second-hand items.
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Recycling: Recycling involves the conversion of waste materials into new products or raw materials. It aims to recover valuable resources from waste, reducing the need for virgin materials and minimizing environmental impacts. Common recyclable materials include paper, plastics, glass, metals, and certain types of electronics.
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Recovery: If waste cannot be prevented, reused, or recycled, the next level is recovery. Recovery focuses on extracting energy from waste through processes such as incineration, pyrolysis, or gasification. Energy recovery generates heat, fuels, and electricity… reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Some recovery processes also involve the capture of gases emitted during waste decomposition, such as methane, which can be used for energy.
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Disposal: Disposal is the last resort in the waste management hierarchy. It involves sending waste to landfills or other forms of disposal, such as deep injection wells for certain hazardous wastes. Proper landfill management, including containment systems and methane capture, can help mitigate environmental impacts, but it is still considered the least desirable waste management option.
The Waste Diversion Hierarchy promotes a shift towards sustainable waste management practices by prioritizing waste prevention and resource recovery over disposal. It encourages a circular economy approach where materials are kept in use for as long as possible and resources are conserved. The specific implementation of the hierarchy may vary depending on regional regulations, infrastructure, and waste characteristics, but the overall aim is to minimize waste generation and maximize resource efficiency.
Ranking of Technologies
|
Technology |
Priority |
|
Pyrolysis/Gasification (Balboa Pacific Corp.) |
1 |
|
Co-Composting |
2 |
|
Fermentation |
3 |
|
Vermi-Composting |
4 |
|
Material Recovery facility |
5 |
|
Modifications to Curbside Collection Program |
6 |
|
Plastics Recycling |
7 |
|
Pulping of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) |
8 |
|
Building Materials from MSW |
9 |
|
Waste-to-Energy (Incineration) |
10 |
Note that Waste-to-Energy (WtE) via Incineration technology is ranked last (#10); this is because, due to the use of combustion, incineration is a hugely toxic process. We want WtE, but not by way of incineration.
Balboa Pacific Corporation (BPC) has developed the Balpac Thermal Conversion Pyrolytic Gasification System, as a continuous-feed Waste-to-Energy treatment technology. The process is the destructive distillation of toxic and non-toxic organic material, either solid or liquid substances, reducing the waste to a sterile char and a syngas that is used to power the system. The char produced that will be about 5 to 10% by weight of the feed stock. The char is primarily carbon; either carbon black (from tires) or biochar (from MSW [Municipal Solid Waste] or green waste). Toner cartridge manufacturers buy carbon black. Farmers buy biochar, which can increase crop yields by improving soil quality.
Balboa Pacific Corporation not only effectively eliminates waste disposal (the last resort 5th level) from the waste diversion hierarchy, but also produce products useful to other industries, and we can create electricity at up to 90% efficiency. Because BPC exceeds all endpoint waste management needs, including from the environmentalist standpoint, the profit potential is immensely vast; and there is nothing more rewarding than one’s wealth being made by way of making the planet better… from pollution to paradise!
Liquid fuel sources such as petroleum wastes and other typically toxic substances sometimes require thickening agents to aid the fuel in being fully processed. BPC has found that it is best to keep the solutions simple and has discovered that wood chips and sawdust are effective thickening agents.
BPC is a technology firm that has developed a proprietary pyrolytic gasification process that will eliminate any waste from crude oil and the refining process (including catalysts), and can then use third-party available technology to funnel the resultant heat generated by our process into boilers that will produce steam to turn a steam turbine generator from which will come electricity. Our technology is extremely environmentally friendly.
Our technology has been extensively used in eliminating oil waste. For nine continuous months (24 hours per day 7 days per week) of operation, the BPC technology was successfully used to eliminate all of the oil waste from ponds located at the largest steel mill in California, USA. There were no mechanical incidents of note during the waste destruction. The steel mill was in the process of being closed by California environmental regulators. Because of the environmental requirements, emissions from the BalPac system were tested frequently, and laboratory analytical emission results were approved and accepted by the Southern California Air Quality Management District. Following waste destruction, the steel mill site received regulatory closure by State and local environmental regulators, and was declared ready for redevelopment. The use of the BPC technology rather than standard remediation methods saved the steel mill owner tens of million dollars.
BPC’s thermal conversion technology is also quite capable of consuming other wastes produced by the refinery including typical industrial wastes (refining catalysts and spent chemicals), organic construction debris, and municipal solid waste.