By Tyler Falk 
In a fascinating new waste management plan, natural gas from decomposed waste will power garbage trucks in the Canadian city of Surrey.

The city, the second largest in British Columbia, is converting its diesel-powered waste-collection trucks to new trucks that run on compressed natural gas. That natural gas will come from organic waste – around 65,000 tons a year – that will be taken to a new waste-to-biofuels production facility. At the facility, the organic waste will decompose and the biogases it releases will be turned into fuel.

A new report from Energy Vision, a New York-based organization that promotes the transition away from petroleum-based transportation fuel, says that the initiative will cut the total municipal waste stream by 75% through recycling (23%) and separated organics (51%).

Here’s how the city’s waste management plan is projected to reduce waste in landfills and increase recycling: [see below]

“The ambitious and exciting initiative by the City of Surrey is the first we have seen in the U.S. or Canada, in which municipal officials have assumed a leadership role in designing and orchestrating this type of closed loop system,” said Joanna Underwood, president of Energy Vision, in the report.

With the U.S. and Canada being among the top five generators of municipal solid waste per capita, Surrey is a model to help cities cut back on the amount of waste sent to landfills.

It’s also a move that will save the city $2.8 million a year for waste collection, when the new system is fully functioning by 2014.

Article from:  http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/cities/waste-will-power-garbage-trucks-in-canadian-city/1712 
Photo: City of Surrey
Graph: “The City of Surrey: Setting The Pace for Sustainable Transportation”

Nov. 30 -- The General Motor’s Fort Wayne Assembly Plant in Indiana now diverts all of its waste from landfills.The facility is GM´s first assembly plant to reach to that goal, according to the News-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Wayne.

GM recycles around 92% of their waste worldwide, but the company still generates 2.5 million tons of waste. That’s enough to fill the beds of 6.8 million pick-up trucks, the paper reported.

Recycling efforts at the Fort Wayne plant generated $2 million in revenue in 2010 while also saving $1 million by using methane power from a landfill to power several boilers.

"We´ve always looked at Fort Wayne as being progressive and innovative," said John Bradburn, GM´s manager of waste-reduction efforts. "People don´t want to be wasteful. It´s really about finding innovative ways to get things done."

Article From: http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/corporate_sustainability/corporate-sustainability.html?id=1322665763