Incinerating Your Garbage

What is an incinerator?
An incinerator is used by only a few villages. It is a specialized unit that includes air quality control features. True “incineration” is a high-tech method to efficiently burn wastes at high temperatures.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• If operated correctly, emissions are quite clean and safe
• Emissions are much cleaner than a burnbox, and you have more control over the process
• You can purchase an incinerator that comes with a computer device to allow the manufacturer to troubleshoot most problems
• You can arrange for yearly maintenance visits by the manufacturer
• An incinerator operator job requires special technical skills (training is available), increasing the diversity in village job opportunities and work experience
• No animal attraction
• Reduces volume of burnable waste by about 90%, and weight of wastestream by about 80%
• Because ash and non-burnable trash is relatively non-toxic, it can be easily landfilled, shipped out, or used in construction
• If you choose to ship ash out, it will be much cheaper than unburned trash, and you'll have less liability concerns
• If correct unit is purchased, can burn raw sewage - making it harmless

Disadvantages

• If not operated and maintained right, you can still get toxic smoke
• Although location is not as critical as burnbox placement, location should still be outside of town, preferably downwind or at least 1 mile away
• Although not as critical as with burnbox operation, should still separate out pressurized containers and hazardous wastes
• Needs regular maintenance
• Still need to deal with ash, scrap metal, appliances, and household hazardous wastes.

Where can I purchase one?
The following manufacturers have provided incinerators to communities in Alaska. Feel free to give them a call to see what kind of service, price, and performance they can provide, and who you like working with the best. Also contact Ed Emswiler, ADEC, 465-5353 for advice and a copy of his Incineration guide (give Ed a call – he has great information about incineration and burning waste!).

Enerwaste: Bellingham, Washington www.enerwaste.com Contact: Tom Dutcher (360) 738 1254

Advanced Combustion Systems: Bellingham, Washington www.acs-acs.com Contact: Mike 1(800) 445 0243

Eco Waste Solutions: Ontario, Canada www.ecosolutions.com Contact: Jean Lucas 1(866) ECO-BURN

For a list of more companies that sell burnboxes and incinerators, click here to view Appendix D of DEC's "Burning Garbage and Land Disposal In Rural Alaska" document.

Alaska communities using incinerators
Listed below are descriptions of incinerator operations for six different communities located throughout Alaska. The descriptions include:

• Contact information
• Information about where they purchased their incinerator
• Costs
• What is involved in maintenance
• Operation costs
• Staff needed
• Information about the building for the incinerator
• Opinions on how they like their incinerator

Click on any of these six communities to read about their incinerators. Feel free to give them a call to ask them how they like their incinerators!

Skagway	Egegik
Red Dog Mine	Akutan
Chignik Lagoon	Tuntutuliak

Skagway

Contact		Bob Ward, City Manager, 983 2297
Population		880 (with 580,000 visitors in the summer)
Incinerator description		Skagway chose to purchase an incinerator when their landfill was running out of space and other landfill locations were hard to find. The community of 880 people generates approximately 8 tons of garbage per week during the winter and 8 tons of garbage per day in the summer (i.e. cruise ships). The City of Skagway worked with an engineering firm and ADEC to develop and permit a lined ashfill and purchase a waste oxidizer incinerator.
Incinerator Model		Waste Oxidizer by Eco-Waste Solutions Inc. of Burlington, Ontario. The incinerator includes: 2-primary (waste) chambers, 1-secondary (afterburner) chamber, 1-exhaust stack, 1-operator control system, and automatic operation.
Maintenance		$12,000.yr. An automated, operator control system is installed for minimal labor and efficient use of fuel. Trouble-shooting and diagnostics are done via a modem and telephone line to reduce the need for on-site technicians. The operator control system is supplied with computer workstation that is located near the equipment and at the public works building in town. This workstation also automatically records operating parameters and makes them available for printing and record keeping.
Fuel		Fuel costs are the most expensive part of Skagway’s operation at $53,000/year (FY 2002). Fuel issues are driven by Skagway's commitment to no visible emissions.
Electricity		Electricity costs are included in the fuel costs above.
Labor		Two full time employees operate the incinerator facility.
Building/ location		The building is located 6 miles from the community and has 3 levels, fuel and water storage tanks, and fencing/gating. Loose residential waste is visually pre-screened for recyclables, hazardous wastes and non-combustibles on the 3rd floor of the facility. Then the waste is dropped down into the primary chamber on the 2rd floor of the facility from a conveyor system (located on the 3rd floor). The top hatch to the primary chamber is then lowered and closed.
Ash disposal		A specialized pneumatic and hydraulic rake is used to scoop ash out of the incinerator. Hinged floor grates open and ash falls through the floor into the ash storage vault below on the 1st floor of the facility. The volume of the storage area is sized so that ash need only be moved from the building to the lined ash disposal area 2 or 3 times per year by a Bobcat loader. The “ashfill” is lined and drains to a 65,000 gallon leachate collection pond at its lower end.
Opinions		Skagway did not choose an incinerator because it was the least expensive alternative. They decided to develop this facility to have their own control over the long-term management of their solid waste, and to have a solution that was environmentally sound. They are fortunate to have financed the project through means other than the garbage rate base, which keeps down costs to residents.

Egegik

Egegik incinerator and incinerator building. Source: Ed Emswiler, ADEC

Red Dog Mine

Contact	Mike Shireman, Cominco, 426-9147
Population	300-600
Incinerator description	Red Dog Mine uses a large incinerator for all of their waste disposal, and a small construction camp incinerator for backup when the main incinerator is down for repairs. Red Dog Mine is heavily regulated for emissions - when incinerating, there is black smoke for 90 seconds and then the emissions are clear. The incinerator burns thoroughly and at high temperatures. They find that feeding the incinerator a bit at a time (rather than jamming it full) allows for a cleaner burn. When bags of oily rags come in, the operator will tag them to keep track, and burn one per cycle. One bag enhances the burn, but more than one bag could be dangerous. Sewage sludge has been successfully burned as well.
Types of waste	The majority of waste generated is mostly food waste, food wrappings and office paper. 1,500 lbs of food waste is put into the incinerator first thing in the morning and burned for 4-5 hours. 500-1000 lb loads of more food waste are added throughout the day for a total of 3,500-5,000 lbs.
Incinerator model	Red Dog Mine uses a John Zinc Incinerator from Industrial Boilers and Controls Inc (contact: Harvey Brunslowe in Anc. 562-2827). It is a 1,000 lb/hr incinerator with a primary and secondary chamber. The primary chamber runs for 5 hours each cycle at 1,400 degrees and the secondary chamber runs for 8 hours each cycle at 1,800 degrees. There is also a hydraulic feeder that automatically opens the incinerator, forces in the trash, and then closes the incinerator.
Maintenance	Red Dog Mine has been running their incinerator for 12 years. They say it's a good incinerator but it has a lot of electrical problems (there are a lot of controls etc. to go wrong). They have electricians on site who perform most maintenance. Maintenance costs could be lower if a dedicated full time operator was able to trouble-shoot incinerator problems, but the operator has many daily duties and does not have time to tend to breakdowns. They think that maintenance costs would be very high for a community using their incinerator if trained electricians weren't on site. Each day ash is emptied, and the incinerator is cleaned.
Fuel	Red Dog Mine played with the incinerator controls to achieve the most efficient burn. They used to burn 386 gal/day of diesel, then went to as low as 136 gal/day, but had to readjust to the current 230 gal/day. They burn for about 11 and 1/2 hours each day, and spend approximately $100,000/yr on fuel.
Electricity	Unable to determine electricity costs.
Labor	One person collects garbage and operates the incinerator. The incinerator is feed every hour.
Incinerator building/location	The building to house the incinerator is 25' x 45' by 20’ high. There are two roll-up doors on the side where two trash dumpsters can roll in. One roll-up door in the back leads to a dumpster that holds ash. The building has an auxiliary heater, but is not insulated and does not have a concrete floor. The building cost $400,000 (including materials).
Ash disposal	No special monofill. Ash is buried at the landfill.
Dumpsters	Covered dumpsters are used to keep the ravens and foxes out. All garbage is bagged. Open dumpsters are used for regular trash that is taken to the landfill. All dumpsters also have swing-out doors in the back, for ease of loading/unloading.
Opinions	Red Dog Mine recommends the incinerator that they use but also recommend employing a dedicated full time operator who is trained to perform incinerator maintenance.

Akutan

Chignik Lagoon

Tuntutuliak