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Eco Waste Solutions

cleantech

18Mar2019

Global Summit on Waste to Energy, New Delhi

March 18, 2019 Sarah W International partnerships 91

Toward sustainable waste management in India

Jean Lucas from Eco Waste Solutions

It was a great pleasure to be a part of the GSWE (Global Summit on Waste Management & Waste to Energy) panel session on the “Quest for Clean Energy From Waste” chaired by Dr Raghu Pillai, founder of ELITA and Managing Director of REWS (India).

The GSWE event was designed to bring together the leading thinkers in international waste-to-energy and sustainable development with technology providers, industrial end users and financiers. It’s only when these groups work in concert and share their best ideas that we can move forward with more innovative waste management solutions.

 

Jean Lucas of Eco Waste waste to energy New Delhi

Our president, Jean Lucas, spoke about the need for community-level waste-to-energy technology, which is particularly relevant in many parts of India where transporting waste for long distances simply isn’t feasible. Allowing communities to take control of their own, local waste management challenges often provides more flexibility, faster deployment, and less capital cost than trying to get a large-scale WTE plant built.

Some of the other panel participants:

Palaniappan P, Senior VP, Mahindra Waste to Energy Solutions Ltd
Insight into a sustainable path leading to energy independence.

Amit Kumar, DGM Operations at NTPC Limited
On the way forward for converting agro residue and municipal solid waste into valuable resources such as electricity, bio-CNG and fertilizer.

We also wanted to thank everyone at the event – especially the engineers who helped us fix our exhibit! – for being so kind and welcoming. It was the first time we’d participated in a major WTE event in New Delhi and we can’t wait to return!

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18Mar2018

China’s new rules for recyclables: The opportunities

March 18, 2018 Sarah W waste to energy 88

It could be a great moment for WTE

Eco Waste Solutions on the WTE opportunities

by Jean Lucas, President, Eco Waste Solutions

 

Even if you’re not one of those people who keep waste management top of mind, you’ve probably heard about China’s recent ban on 24 categories of solid waste, including lots of the materials that many North Americans diligently sort into their recycling bins every week.

China has long been the recipient of waste from other countries, and was, until recently, the world’s biggest importer of recyclables. In fact, 80% of the recyclables collected by some municipalities in North America were sent to China.

Last year, however, China announced that it would no longer accept many of these recyclables, largely because of contamination. In this context, ‘contamination’ means non-recyclable material that’s mixed in with recyclable material – think of food left in otherwise recyclable containers, regular garbage mixed in with scrap paper, or dangerous items like propane tanks that get tossed into the metals.  In some cases, this contamination can account for as much as 16% of overall waste volume.

Historically, China would accept recyclables with as much as 3% contaminants. The gap was bridged by local processors in North America, who would remove a large amount of contaminants before shipping the recyclables to China.

As of January 1, China will only accept waste with 0.5% contaminants, leaving many North American municipalities with tonnes of waste that have no place to go. Most of them will, unfortunately, end up in landfills.

Recycling is less effective than most people think

The widespread implementation of recycling programs across North America in the past 20 years has been a good move forward for waste management – today’s 20-somethings have grown up knowing the value of reducing and sorting their waste, and composting is no longer the purview of just those hippies down the block.

However, the mainstreaming of recycling has given many of us the false idea that we’ve ‘solved’ the problem of solid waste. Sure, recycling has diverted some waste out of landfills, but the problem of contamination means that landfill disposal continues to grow. And the need for fossil fuel-based energy to process recyclables means that recycling isn’t really the magic solution that many of us think it is.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue recycling. It means that we should also be thinking of complementary waste management solutions.

Waste-to-energy could be the solution (or at least part of it)

Everyone has been focused on the immediate consequences of China’s new rules: The stockpiled waste, the increase in landfill requirements, the loss of revenue for recyclers, etc. But maybe this is a great time to rethink waste management, especially in North America.

While the EU has begun to focus on the Circular Economy and is taking action on several fronts, North America has been slow to address it on a large scale. Broadly speaking, a circular economy seeks to reduce waste (and its consequences) by reducing waste at the source, encouraging businesses and consumers to be more mindful of waste, and finding ways to convert waste into usable commodities. This is where waste-to-energy (WTE), also known as energy-from-waste (EFW) comes in.

Waste-to-energy (WTE) is an important part of a larger waste management strategy that decreases both waste generation and the dependence on landfills, combined with a commitment to reducing pollution.

Essentially, WTE technology is designed to incinerate waste in a way that reduces waste volume and toxicity, while releasing exponentially less toxins and pollution into the environment than landfills or even traditional recycling processes.

Waste to energy technology by Eco Waste Solutions

 

It’s already working in Europe

While large-scale waste-to-energy facilities have been up, running and successful in Europe for decades, they continue to be largely unknown or unwanted in North America. Sweden, for example, has begun to import waste in order to fuel its very successful waste-to-energy plants.

North American municipalities, on the other hand, have continued to face resistance to both waste-to-energy and to aggressive consumption reduction efforts.  In a climate where economic growth is expected, encouraging people to reduce consumption can be problematic politically.  And in the era of ‘fake news’, North Americans hear words like ‘incineration’ and ’emissions’ and aren’t sure what to believe.

However, it’s interesting to note that waste-to-energy initiatives have been operational in North America for 110 years. We’re in a good position to be world leaders in this area – if only we were able to get people a little more excited about the possibilities.

So what are the next steps?

Historically, those of us working in waste management have been hesitant to criticize recycling – even though we’ve long known that it has serious limitations and isn’t nearly the perfect solution that it’s often believed to be. But China’s new regulations have highlighted the limitations of recycling, and now more non-waste-management professionals are talking about alternatives.

Maybe it’s time for those of us who’ve been working to improve the technology involved in waste-to-energy, and have seen just how effective – and safe – it can be, to start talking, especially in North America.  To think in terms of the technology, rather than in terms of ‘garbage’.

Because we all deserve better waste management solutions.

 

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15Oct2017

Media release: Eco Waste Solutions executive leadership changes

October 15, 2017 Sarah W Employee events 74

Eco Waste Solutions waste to energy

BURLINGTON, ON, Aug. 25, 2017 /CNW/ Eco Waste Solutions announces changes to its organization that position the company for continued success over the next decade.

After more than 10 years with Eco Waste Solutions, President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Meldrum has left the Company to pursue other opportunities.

Executive Vice President, Jean Lucas, will replace Mr. Meldrum as President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Jean has consistently delivered results by breaking into new markets, executing on disciplined strategies, mentoring her colleagues, and influencing the direction of our product development. Jean has what the company needs to lead it into its next stage of growth in Energy from Waste and providing best in class mobile military waste solutions”, said Aaron Slater, Eco Waste Solutions’ Executive Director.

“I’m honoured to take the helm at Eco Waste – a business I have helped to grow from a start-up to a global contender.  The prospect of structuring our company so that we can expand our reach in this critical segment of the environmental sector is very exciting,” said Ms. Lucas.

About Jean Lucas

One of the founding members of the Eco Waste Solutions team, Jean has been instrumental in transforming the business from its original clean-tech start-up status to its current position as a global leader in environmental technology. Her focus on finding better ways to manage waste, and helping clients achieve strong environmental performance, has driven the development of innovative new products and technological improvements for EWS.

In the global waste management industry, Jean is known as a strategic innovator.

She has a BSc in Environmental Science and Biology and is a member of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), CADSI (Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries) and is a Founder/Past President of Women in Mining Canada.

About Eco Waste Solutions (EWS)

EWS is one of the world’s leading suppliers of modular waste conversion technology. Operating in the US and Canada, EWS delivers proven and practical waste management solutions for military and natural resource companies and remote communities, as well as bankable waste-to-energy solutions. EWS continues to set the standard for waste management technology in North America and worldwide.

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13Nov2013

Eco Waste Solutions wins Technology Green 15TM Award

November 13, 2013 Sarah W Awards 93

Eco Waste named green company

Burlington, November 13, 2013: Eco Waste Solutions today announced it is a named winner of the prestigious Deloitte Technology Green 15TM Award for developing technology solutions and intellectual property that promotes efficient use of the earth’s resources. The Deloitte Technology Green 15 Award recognizes winners that create technology solutions that reduce environmental impacts while improving operational performance and productivity.

“Deloitte’s Technology Green 15 companies make a positive impact on the environment with innovations that help reduce global warming, and save energy to preserve the environment,” said Richard Lee, Deloitte’s National Managing Partner, Technology, Media & Telecommunications. “They deserve to be recognized for their leadership in creating major breakthroughs in the field of clean technology.”

Eco Waste Solutions’ CEO Steve Meldrum, credits delivering only the most proven, practical, and environmentally sound solutions, with the company’s ability to achieve early success in this segment.  Meldrum said “The waste technology space is filled with companies that are years away from producing anything that can be relied upon to solve the waste problems facing us now.  Eco Waste Solutions is proud of the fact that our systems are making a positive impact in the world today. We are very honoured to be recognized for our achievements through this unique award for the second time.”

Eco Waste Solutions’ proprietary waste gasification-oxidation technology has a wide following due to its ability to process municipal solid waste, without complex pre-processing, and reduce the volume by over 90% to an inert residual that can be re-used.  This practical, cost effective approach is combined with state of the art air pollution controls to meet the strictest global standards.  The Eco Waste Oxidizer is also a fully commercialized platform for heat recovery and Energy from Waste.

About the Deloitte Technology Green 15TM – The Technology Green 15TM recognizes Canada’s leading GreenTech companies. GreenTech, the industry term for “green technologies”, is taking on greater importance in the world in general and the world of business in particular. It includes any technology that promotes a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption. GreenTech products and services are designed to reduce or eliminate environmental impacts and improve operational performance, productivity, or efficiency while reducing costs, inputs, energy consumption, waste, or pollution. Although many companies within GreenTech industry sectors are very different, they share a common trait: all use new, innovative technology to create products and services that compete with existing products and services on price and performance while reducing impact on the environment.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM – The Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM program is Canada’s pre-eminent technology awards program. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features four distinct categories including the Technology Fast 50TM Ranking, Companies-to-Watch Awards (early-stage Canadian tech companies in business less than five years, with the potential to be a future Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM candidate,) Leadership Awards (companies that demonstrate technological leadership and innovation within the industry) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15TM Awards (Canada’s leading GreenTech companies that promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption.) Program sponsors include Deloitte, Bennett Jones and OMERS Ventures. For further information, visit www.fast50.ca.

About Eco Waste Solutions – Eco Waste Solutions (EWS) is an award-winning, privately-held Canadian environmental technology company that custom engineers and manufactures proven, advanced thermal treatment technologies for solid and liquid waste. Since 1994 we have demonstrated leadership in design-quality, environmental integrity and excellent customer service. Unlike many emerging technologies still in development, the EWS systems are fully commercialized and process waste reliably. Our technological innovations include 4G controls, containerized mobile incinerators and scalable, modular systems that can offer heat recovery in the form of hot water, steam, and Energy from Waste. www.ecosolutions.com

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Eco Waste Solutions has been delivering thermal waste conversion solutions to companies, communities, governments and military organizations around the world for more than 30 years. From waste management consulting to technology selection, project management and implementation, we help thermal waste conversion projects thrive.

Eco Waste Solutions – Canada
300-5500 North Service Rd
Burlington, ON L7L 6W6
Tel. 905-634-7022

Eco Waste Solutions – USA
109 Cedar St
Batavia, NY 14020
Tel. 585-895-6176

info@ecosolutions.com