2002 Annual Report: New Technologies

The Board, local jurisdictions, and the private materials handling and solid waste industries have worked cooperatively during the past 12 years to reduce California’s dependence on landfills. This extraordinary effort has resulted in the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in a resource-based infrastructure that values reuse and recycling over disposal. But other than improved automation in materials sorting and handling, no real advances in technology have emerged. As the state approaches its 50 percent diversion goal, new technologies are developing that could greatly improve the recovery of resources and energy from waste.

Conversion Technologies
For approximately three years, the Board has been examining non-combustion “conversion” technologies. These technologies could convert some of the millions of tons of materials now sent to landfills into energy, alternative fuels, and other industrial products. These technologies include, but are not limited to, thermal processes such as gasification, chemical processes such as acid hydrolysis, and biological processes, other than composting, such as enzyme hydrolysis. The Board’s Strategic Plan (Goals 2, 4, and 7) includes the development of such alternative technologies, and our work to date in this area can be viewed at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Conversion/.

The Board sponsored AB 2770, Matthews (Chapter 740, Statutes of 2002). This statute is designed to advance the understanding of conversion technologies by requiring the Board to submit a report to the Legislature on new and emerging conversion technologies. As part of this endeavor, the Board has entered into an agreement with the University of California at Riverside, in cooperation with the University of California at Davis, to evaluate conversion technologies. This will include identification of different technologies and general analysis of performance and other characteristics.

To further implement the requirements of Chapter 740, the Board will also be commissioning a study in 2003 to compare the environmental and health impacts of new and emerging conversion technologies with existing solid waste management practices. In addition, the study will determine the impact conversion technologies may have on existing and future recycling and compost markets.

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) will provide assistance to the Board by providing peer review of draft results of the life cycle analyses. OEHHA will conduct risk assessments to evaluate and characterize the potential health effects from exposure to estimated emissions (air, solid, and liquid) from conversion technologies and other solid waste management systems.

In 2002 the Board continued its efforts to bring conversion technology development into public discussion of long-term waste management alternatives. The Board partnered with the California Resource Recovery Association to incorporate conversion technology-related issues into its annual meeting in July 2002. The Board also partnered with the Solid Waste Association of North America at its October 2002 national conference in Long Beach..

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