The Larmier County, Colorado landfill is sending its wood waste to a local biochar company to be used as feedstock, a report by the Loveland Reporter-Herald says. The landfill created a contract with Waste-Not Recycling in Johnstown to process the material.
Under the contract, commercial tree-trimming services will take their trimmings to a designated area at the landfill. After creating a stockpile large enough, Waste-Not will bring a shredder to the site, reduce the wood waste in size and haul it to Biochar Now in Berthoud, Colorado.
Clean wood waste, such as pallets and crates, also will be accepted, the report says.
After a trial period with commercial waste to smooth out any bumps is complete, the landfill will open the site to the public, the report says. Stephen Gillette, the county’s solid waste director, says that may happen in January 2018.
The tip fee for dumping the waste will remain the same, at $6.05 per cubic yard, to cover operation costs.
According to the report, a recent study revealed that 50 percent of the waste dumped at Larmier County landfill could be recycled, with wood waste at 18 percent. Although some of the incoming wood waste is painted or stained and therefore, not usable at Biochar, 5 percent of the landfill’s annual wood volume could be diverted.
Biochar Now uses pyrolysis to turn the clean wood waste it receives into biochar. According to the report, the process takes six to 14 hours to complete and then the kiln is left to cool for a day. After the wood is turned to biochar, the chunks are crushed into either chips, rice-sized pieces, sand-sized pieces or powder.
The biochar can be used as a soil amendment or to clean water.
Under the contract, commercial tree-trimming services will take their trimmings to a designated area at the landfill. After creating a stockpile large enough, Waste-Not will bring a shredder to the site, reduce the wood waste in size and haul it to Biochar Now in Berthoud, Colorado.
Clean wood waste, such as pallets and crates, also will be accepted, the report says.
After a trial period with commercial waste to smooth out any bumps is complete, the landfill will open the site to the public, the report says. Stephen Gillette, the county’s solid waste director, says that may happen in January 2018.
The tip fee for dumping the waste will remain the same, at $6.05 per cubic yard, to cover operation costs.
According to the report, a recent study revealed that 50 percent of the waste dumped at Larmier County landfill could be recycled, with wood waste at 18 percent. Although some of the incoming wood waste is painted or stained and therefore, not usable at Biochar, 5 percent of the landfill’s annual wood volume could be diverted.
Biochar Now uses pyrolysis to turn the clean wood waste it receives into biochar. According to the report, the process takes six to 14 hours to complete and then the kiln is left to cool for a day. After the wood is turned to biochar, the chunks are crushed into either chips, rice-sized pieces, sand-sized pieces or powder.
The biochar can be used as a soil amendment or to clean water.
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