Dive Transient:
- Reworld is working with Stanislaus County, California, to wind down operations of its mass burn combustion plant in Modesto, ending operations on Dec. 2, the corporate confirmed. The ability, opened in 1987, is the final working municipal strong waste incinerator within the state.
- Reworld, beforehand generally known as Covanta, warned county officers final yr that the 800 tons-per-day plant was struggling to stay financially viable, citing the tip of a state coverage that eliminated waste diversion credit from incineration. The corporate proposed a brand new contract or elevated tipping charges.
- Reworld’s different remaining facility in California, situated in Lengthy Seashore, closed in January. The corporate is now focusing “new enterprise alternatives as a part of our service enlargement efforts in North America,” communications director Nicolle Robles stated in an emailed assertion.
Dive Perception:
California’s waste disposal system is within the midst of a serious transition because of a collection of legal guidelines handed lately. SB 1383, the state’s organics recycling legislation, is requiring native governments to divert that waste stream to compost amenities or anaerobic digesters, eradicating a moisture-heavy substance from landfilling or incineration.
AB 1857, a separate invoice signed into legislation in 2022, ended jurisdictions’ capacity to fulfill a portion of their objective to divert waste from landfills by sending waste to incineration. The legislation eliminated close by jurisdictions’ incentive to feed waste to the amenities in Lengthy Seashore and Stanislaus County.
The amenities had additionally drawn sturdy opposition from native environmental justice teams who’ve campaigned in opposition to air pollution. They argue the know-how is now not wanted as insurance policies like SB 1383 transfer the state towards a zero waste system.
One such group, Valley Enchancment Tasks, has created a community-led zero waste plan for Stanislaus County. The plan targeted on extending the lifetime of current disposal assets, particularly the county’s Fink Street Landfill, by lowering the acceptance of waste from sources outdoors the county and ending acceptance of ash from the Reworld facility. County workers has beforehand warned disposal charges may double on the landfill if the Reworld facility shuts down.
The plan additionally outlined assist for waste discount, recycling and composting. To realize success with these packages, Valley Enchancment Tasks is advocating for a single-use plastic ban, a waste price construction that’s correlated to the dimensions of a resident’s cart, deconstruction necessities and different initiatives.
Talking on the digital Nationwide Zero Waste Convention final week, Bianca Lopez, co-founder and mission director at Valley Enchancment Tasks, stated the county has a chance to construct on the diversion work it started with a recycling program within the Seventies.
“The county and the municipalities on this space are constrained with capability and funding, simply as all of us are,” Lopez stated. “However … our infrastructure may be very effectively and prepared for us to advance on a whole lot of these packages and initiatives that now we have highlighted.”
Lopez stated insurance policies like AB 1857 have helped her group, in collaboration with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and different anti-incineration teams, “starve the beast” and finish the usage of incineration within the state. She stated her group was “celebrating” Reworld’s pending closure, in an emailed assertion Monday.
“This can be a big win for our neighborhood, and we’re excited to work with the town and county to construct a real zero-waste plan that not solely retains waste out of landfills but in addition creates inexperienced jobs and protects our air high quality,” Lopez stated.
Reworld’s contract with Stanislaus County was scheduled to proceed till 2027. County CEO Jody Hayes stated officers are nonetheless negotiating with Reworld and different companions to return to a ultimate disposal settlement, The Modesto Bee reported.
Whereas Reworld is pivoting away from its California WTE amenities, it’s persevering with enlargement in different geographic areas and companies. A just lately introduced funding from GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, is predicted to speed up these plans.
Megan Quinn contributed to this story