2003 Annual Report: New Technologies

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• Background
• Conversion Technologies
• Bioreactor Landfills

Background

California’s remarkable success at waste diversion is the result of a partnership among the Board, local jurisdictions, and the private materials handling and solid waste industries. The investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in a resource-based infrastructure that values reuse and recycling over disposal has driven the statewide waste diversion rate from a meager 10 percent in 1989 to 47 percent in 2003. 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

Chapter 740, Statutes of 2002 (AB 2770, Matthews) was 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. 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. Work to date in this area is posted on the Board's conversion technologies website. AB 2770 allocated $1.5 million from the Integrated Waste Management Account for a study on the lifecycle and environmental implications of conversion technologies.

As part of this endeavor, the Board has entered into an agreement with the University of California, Riverside, in cooperation with the University of California, Davis, to evaluate conversion technologies. This will include identification of different technologies and general analysis of performance and other characteristics. UC Riverside and UC Davis established a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) consisting of representatives from State and federal agencies, academia, solid waste industry, environmental organizations, and the conversion technology industry. The TAC developed evaluation criteria to be used by the UC researchers in their evaluation of conversion technologies. The draft results will be made available to the TAC for review and will be subjected to peer review by the University of California. Peer reviewers selected will be from campuses other than Riverside and Davis.

The Board has also entered into an agreement with Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to compare the environmental and health impacts of new and emerging conversion technologies with existing solid waste management practices. In addition, RTI will determine the impact conversion technologies may have on existing and future recycling and compost markets. The purpose of the market impact analysis is to perform quantitative analysis on the development and growth of conversion technologies in California. The results will show negative, neutral, or positive impacts on the ability of paper, plastic, and organic materials management industries to remain viable and/or to expand.

RTI and its subcontractors have prepared technical memoranda that describe the methodologies to be used for the analyses. These draft methodologies were presented at a public workshop where interested parties had the opportunity to comment and offer suggestions for changes to the methodologies. The methodologies were peer reviewed by the University of California and are available on the Board’ conversion technologies Web site.

The Board anticipates results from the University of California by February 2004 and RTI by March 2004. The draft results will be presented at workshops that will be open to the public. These workshops are tentatively scheduled for April 14-15, 2004. The CIWMB will include an update of the current status of the studies in its annual report to the Legislature with a separate full report to be sent to the Legislature in late June 2004.

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 also 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. The Board anticipates receiving comments from OEHHA in early May 2004; these will be included in the June 2004 report to the Legislature.

Separate from AB 2770, Board staff has prepared draft regulations for the permitting of conversion technologies. Staff held a public workshop to discuss the proposed draft regulations and has given the interested parties opportunity to provide informal comments on the draft regulations. In November 2003, staff presented an agenda item to the Permitting and Enforcement Committee and the full Board requesting approval to initiate the formal 45-day comment period. The Board gave approval, and the formal 45-day comment period is expected to begin in March 2004.

Bioreactor Landfills

On October 27, 2003, a public field trip and workshop on bioreactor landfills was conducted at the Yolo County Central Landfill. The purpose of the field trip and workshop was to educate stakeholders on this emerging technology and to provide a forum for discussing issues related to an anticipated rule on Subtitle D Research, Development, and Demonstration projects that will be issued in 2004 by the U.S. EPA. This rule would allow increased flexibility for the Board and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to approve new projects such as bioreactor landfills. Yolo County is implementing a full-scale demonstration project for state-of-the-art bioreactor landfill technology. The Board and SWRCB are developing a draft regulation to incorporate into State landfill regulations (27 CCR) the RD&D rule upon its promulgation by U.S. EPA.

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