Gate Hours

Monday - Friday	7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday	7:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Sunday	Closed
Charges	$39.90 per ton

The waste-to-energy facility is designed to process up to 690 tons per day of municipal solid waste, commercial waste and limited amounts of dried sewage sludge. The pollution control technology used at the facility complies with all presently applicable federal, state and local environmental requirements.

Waste arriving at the facility is fed into chutes and then on to the grates of two mass-burn furnaces where temperatures exceed 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. This incineration process reduces waste volumes by 90% enabling the landfill to have a longer life. As an example, the amount of ash resulting from incinerating the waste in a fully loaded residential garbage truck would fit into a wheel barrow!

Steam produced at the facility is shipped via seven miles of pipeline to the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal. The Arsenal uses the steam for heating as well as running other equipment.

Ash remaining from the combustion process is transported to the landfill where the ferrous and non-ferrous metals are removed before the ash is buried.

Acid gases resulting from the combustion are neutralized in a dry flue gas scrubber; and particulate matter is captured by a fabric filter baghouse.

All aspects of the plant's operation are continously monitored from a central control room constantly.

	Landfill volume is reduced - The plant can burn 690 tons per day of municipal solid waste significantly reducing the volume of garbage going to the landfill.
	Steam is sold to Redstone Arsenal - Energy in the form of steam is provided to Redstone Arsenal, virtually eliminating the Arsenal's dependence on its own steam production equipment.
	Environmentally responsible waste disposal - The facility's pollution control equipment, coupled with advanced combustion technology, reduces and controls emissions released from the plant. All aspects of the plant's operation are monitored from a central control room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The pollution control equipment used at the facility complies with all presently applicable environmental requirements.
	Easy disposal of sewage sludge - Finally, the Waste-to-Energy Facility burns sewage sludge from Huntsville's wastewater treatment plants as fuel, thus providing a practical means of sludge disposal.

The steam produced from the Waste-to-Energy Facility is sold to the U.S. government at Redstone Arsenal. This energy is used for heating and air conditioning, thus eliminating the Arsenal's dependence on its own steam production equipment.

The Solid Waste Disposal Authority (a non-profit public corporation) receives 100% of the total sales from the Waste-to-Energy Facility's energy production sold to Redstone Arsenal. This revenue is then used to offset plant construction and operational costs.

We frequently host on-site tours of the Waste-to-Energy facility for school, civic and youth groups. If you would like to tour the Waste-to-Energy Facility, it is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. until 11:50 a.m. Contact Jeff Schrimsher at 256-882-1019 for more information and tour schedules. We also have a brief on-line tour of the waste-to-energy process.