Allied Energy Services plans waste-to-energy plant in Georgia

A Conyers, Georgia, alternative energy company is planning to build a waste-to-energy facility at the Augusta, Georgia, city landfill, a report by the Augusta Chronicle says. Allied Energy Services says the 55,000-square-foot facility would be capable of converting up to 175,000 tons of waste per year into small pellets that could be used as biomass fuel or converted into engineered building materials, such as flooring and paneling.

The $38 million project is expected to be complete by early next year and would be the first of its kind in Georgia, the report says. Allied is waiting for permits from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Atlanta, but once the permits are issued, construction could start by the end of summer.

Allied is leasing a 10-acre site at the landfill’s northwest corner for $40,000 per year and will pay the city 5 cents for every ton of garbage it diverts from landfill, the report says, which amounts to around $8,750 per year at full capacity.

The landfill currently receives 390,000 tons of waste per year from counties throughout the region and las a 100-year life expectancy at its current volume, the report says. Allied’s diversion could prolong its lifespan.

The pellets created at the waste-to-energy facility would be marked as an industrial fuel. The second phase of the project, a manufacturing plant that will cost $30 million to develop, would convert the pellets into high-density fiberboard.

Allied says in the report it plans to return less than 1 percent of the waste it takes in. The company plans to produce 105,000 tons of pellets that consist of 75 percent cellulose and 25 percent plastic. Glass and metal will be separated and sold to other recycling companies.

According to the report, the facility would operate 24/7 with one shift on Sundays dedicated to preventative maintenance. Allied says in the report it plans to use recycling equipment developed by Soukos Robots, a Greek manufacturer whose equipment is currently used in its home country and Bulgaria.