Solid Waste Management - Part 2

The visit to the Central Transfer Station of the Department of Solid Waste Management of Miami was an enlightening experience. The visiting contingent was exposed to a well-organized proactive and experienced team that worked in tandem to address the primary separation of trash and garbage. Examples of trash were tree cuttings and other dry materials. Garbage is largely considered as kitchen waste. The Central Transfer Station was also the point where the sorted materials would be compacted and loaded on specialized container trucks and transported by land to the Resource Recovery Waste Energy Facility where they would be further broken down.

In 1987 the Resources to Recovery, Waste to Energy facility was established to reduce the amount of volume going into the landfill. At the start of the company they recycled 1.2 million tonnes of waste per year. Today they recycle approximately nine hundred million tonnes per year. They achieved this by burning the waste to get ash. This is because the ash will take up less space than bulk waste. All emissions are neutralised into steam and cooled before entering the atmosphere.