Dane County Repurposing Waste for Renewable Electricity
By Katie Fletcher, Biomass Magazine.
A dumping ground of waste materials is traditionally a site of little regard. However, landfills are now repurposing waste beyond purely disposing of it. Dane County, Wisconsin, Rodefeld landfill is one example of a site repurposing waste, and has even been considered environmentally innovative by those involved with the project. The landfill site has been converting landfill gas into renewable electricity for over 20 years and is now expanding.
The idea of expanding onsite has significant advantages. “Construction of a new landfill would have cost $80 million more than the expansion,” Parisi said. “Trucking the waste would have been much more expensive operationally, not to mention the impact on the environment from vehicle emissions.”