MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – More than 100 people took gathered as the Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority and Entsorga West Virginia held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new facility Wednesday.
The new facility will divert municipal solid waste from landfills and use it to produce alternative fuels.
Once operational in 2017, the Martinsburg plant will be capable of producing 50,000 tons of solid recovered fuel (SRF) per year, resulting in a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 28,000 tons annually.
Director and CEO of Entsorga, Dr. Pietro Cella Mazzaiol, said he hopes to have plenty of visitors to the facility for tours, and thinks that this will start a chain reaction in the U.S.
“This plant will be the first,” Mazzaiol said. “It will be the reference plant for this technology in the U.S.”
The 85,000 square foot plant off of Grapevine Road will be the first in the nation to use Entsorga’s mechanical biological treatment process.
80 percent of the household garbage and other municipal solid waste received by the yet-to-be-built facility will be used to produce SRF for use at the nearby Essroc Cement Plant.
Much of that will come from Apple Valley Waste.
John Decker, Director and CEO of Apple Valley Waste, says that the simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the facility is what drew his company to the project.
“What we love about this project, “Decker said, “is number one there’s no combustion. And number two it’s a very simple, natural process.”
Waste Authority Chairman Clint Hogbin said the plant has been a long time coming, but was happy to see it all come together.
He was also excited to showcase the new Education Area that will be part of the facility.
Named after Edgar J Mason for all his contributions in education, the Education Center will teach children the importance of recycling, composting, and resource recovery.
Hogbin said he wants to work with local schools to help teach the importance of conservation.
“Our hope is that we can eventually get a program established with the schools to get all the school kids in here on a regular basis,” Hogbin said.
The project is being financed with 25 million dollars issued by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority on behalf of Entsorga, and upon its completion, the facility will offer 20 permanent positions.