Dive Brief:
- Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. will work with the Metlakatla Indian Community (MIC) — the only Native American reserve in Alaska — to launch a small waste-to-energy facility on Annette Island, AK.
- The MIC struggles with waste disposal, as all 1,500 residents in the community rely on a municipal dump to dispose of their waste. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Interior provided a grant to MIC to improve its solid waste management program — which includes a review of the waste-to-energy plant.
- The construction of a WTE site would help MIC achieve two goals: to stop using the municipal dump on the island, and to use energy from the facility at its highest value in the community.
Dive Insight:
The construction of waste-to-energy facilities has been a growing trend in the industry as municipalities look for ways to dispose of waste while creating sustainable energy for the community. In Annette Island, the ideal waste-to-energy facility would be able to process 5 tons of MIC's waste per day — a large amount of waste for a small community to repurpose.
"Working closely with GBB, we are getting valuable guidance in updating our Solid Waste Management Plan, investigating recycling options, and navigating this procurement process," said MIC Mayor Audrey Hudson in a statement.
In order to grow as a more sustainable nation, many innovative waste-to-energy approaches have been attempted — such as a plastic-to-fuel machine in Santa Cruz, CA, or anaerobic digesters for food waste in states like Connecticut. Creating WTE opportunities in small communities like MIC are crucial steps in moving everyone forward, together.
