Covanta Tulsa Receives SWANA Award
Covanta Tulsa Renewable Energy LLC (Covanta Tulsa), a subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corp., has been named a recipient of the 2013 Excellence Award in the Waste-to-Energy category from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). The company received the bronze award during SWANA’s annual Wastecon event in Long Beach, Calif.
Covanta’s Tulsa plant processes 1,125 tons of solid waste per day, generating up to 265,000 pounds per hour of steam. The steam is used to power a turbine generator to produce 16.8 megawatts of renewable energy. The energy also is exported to a neighboring refinery. The steam offsets the need for the refinery to use fossil fuels to generate their own steam.
“Covanta provides the city of Tulsa with a reliable and environmentally sustainable approach to disposing of our municipal waste. We are proud to have Covanta as a program partner and to know that our combined efforts will benefit our citizens for years to come,” says Liz Hunt, a spokeswoman for the city of Tulsa.
SWANA’s Excellence Awards Program recognizes solid waste programs and facilities that advance the practice of environmentally and economically sound solid waste management through their commitment to using effective technologies and processes in system design and operations, advancing worker and community health and safety, and implementing successful public education and outreach programs. Programs also must demonstrate that they are fiscally and environmentally responsible through their compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations.
Matthew Newman, business manager at Covanta Tulsa, says, “Covanta Tulsa is proud to be recognized by SWANA with an Excellence Award for our superior operations and community programs. We are committed to providing safe and sustainable waste disposal that reduces greenhouse gases and produces enough energy to power more than 20,000 homes in Green Country Oklahoma.”
GBB’s Harvey Gershman Receives SWANA Award
Harvey Gershman, president and cofounder of Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), Fairfax, Va., was recently presented with the 2013 Robert L. Lawrence Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest honors in the solid waste industry, for his significant contribution to the solid waste management profession.
This prestigious industry award was presented during the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA) Awards Breakfast during WasteCon in Long Beach, Calif., in September.
SWANA touts the event as an annual celebration of the best in the solid waste industry, as evaluated by peers against rigorous professional criteria set forth by SWANA.
“This is truly a humbling honor to be recognized this way by SWANA,” said Gershman upon receiving the award. “Earth Day 1970 first inspired my career to focus on helping do better things with waste. Since then, I’ve had the chance to have mentors and partners with similar passion for better solid waste management. I’m also very thankful for the many great staff at GBB who helped meet the challenges of our clients, and for our wonderful clients who entrusted us to help them.”
“I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this award. For this reason, it is a great honor to have co-sponsored this nomination,” noted Nancy Nevil, former director of sustainability and environmental services, city of Plano, Texas, and recipient of the 2012 Lawrence Award. “Harvey’s calling into the field of solid waste management sprang from a desire to influence environmental decisions. He has certainly done that!”
Nevil added, “You can see the imprint of his work in communities throughout the country and on hundreds of individuals who have benefited from his instruction and guidance. I count myself among those individuals.”
“Harvey has made significant contributions to the solid waste management industry. It was an honor for me to cosponsor his name for this nomination,” said William Merry, general manager of the Monterey (California) Regional Waste Management District. “He is inquisitive and willing to invest personally and professionally to solve problems and to press forward to make programs more efficient and effective, not only for his clients, but for his community and across the nation.”
Merry continued, “We look forward to his input in the industry for many years to come.”
Five Directors Elected to American Biogas Council Board
The American Biogas Council (ABC), Washington, D.C., elected one new director and re-elected four directors at the annual member meeting in Columbus, Ohio, which took place in October during the Renewable Energy From Organics Recycling Conference, the official conference of the ABC.
Amanda Mott of the Wisconsin State Energy Office joined the board with veteran directors Wayne Davis of Harvest Power; Amy Kessler of Turning Earth LLC; Norma McDonald of Organic Waste Systems; and Bernie Sheff of Anaergia.
“The U.S. biogas industry is really energized right now,” says Patrick Serfass, ABC executive director. “We just finished an extremely successful and sold-out first official conference of the American Biogas Council. We have some of our most active industry leaders returning to lead their industry’s trade association and new leaders emerging around them. Over 80 new companies have joined the ABC this year and project announcements are emerging left and right. It’s a good time to do business in the biogas industry.”
The five new directors will join continuing directors Juliette Bohn of Humboldt Waste Management Authority; Nora Goldstein of BioCycle; Paul Greene of O’Brien & Gere; Kerry Kelly of Waste Management Inc.; Ben Matthews of Caterpillar Inc.; Davis McCallum of GE; Trevor Nickel of Himark Biogas; Paul Relis of CR&R Inc.; and Chris Voell of BioCNG LLC.
EIA Becomes National Waste & Recycling Association
The national association of private waste and recycling companies formerly known as the Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) has changed its name to the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA). Along with the name change the association has unveiled a new logo.
The association says the name change follows the merger of the EIA with its sub-associations, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC). “The rebranding is a significant milestone in achieving the goals of the strategic plan we adopted in November 2012,” says Charlie Appleby, NWRA chairman.
Sharon Kneiss, president and CEO of the association, notes, “While the merger is now complete with this rebranding, our work continues to establish a number of programs within the organization. Our group is committed to the National Waste & Recycling Association being the unparalleled leader in industry advocacy, safety, waste technology, standards and statistics. Furthermore, we are building a strong certification program and working to deliver excellent education opportunities.”
The group’s new logo includes symbols reflecting the industry’s involvement in the collection of waste and recyclables, recycling, organics and composting and the production of waste-based energy. The inclusion of the word “innovate” in the tagline highlights how technology is revolutionizing the way that waste and recycling is managed in America, says the group.
Kneiss says, “With this new name, we are taking the opportunity to strengthen and modernize how we represent our association and promote the industry to our members, government officials, the media and the communities in which we operate.”
The National Waste & Recycling Association, based in Washington, represents nearly 800 companies operating in the United States.
NWRA Hires Waste and Recycling Technology Director
The National Waste & Recycoling association, formerly Environmental Industry Associations (EIA), Washington, D.C., has named Anne Germain its new director of waste and recycling technology.
Sharon Kneiss, NWRA president and CEO, says Germain’s expertise in the two areas will allow her to immediately serve as an industry authority on issues related to waste and recycling.
Germain will work to bring the industry perspective to regulators and build relationships with regulatory agencies on behalf of the industry. Germain’s duties also will include public speaking and media interviews.
Prior to coming to NWRA, Germain was the engineering and technology chief for the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, where she oversaw environmental monitoring and compliance, engineering, building and vehicle maintenance and landfill gas facility design and operations for the state.
In addition, Germain served as the international president of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), which recognized her with its Distinguished Individual Achievement Award in its Landfill Division.
Kneiss says, “I have no doubt that Anne’s background and expertise in waste and recycling management will enable her to build a well respected program that delivers technical information about waste management technologies, including the engineering and use of landfills; recycling and composting; and emerging technologies for waste reduction.”
She adds, “I look forward to seeing her expand our resources for NSWMA-WASTEC members, become a spokesperson for the industry and facilitate our efforts to offer leadership on all things waste and recycling.”