Garbage-to-fertilizer plant gets Nebraska nod

Hampton, Neb.-Hamilton County planning officials say they have no objections to plans for a recycling facility to be located in an existing building in Hampton that uses acid to turn waste now being hauled to the dump into fertilizer for area farmers. Zoning Administrator Darla Svoboda told Green Markets that William Shirley, president of S/R Waste Recovery Systems, meets all the standards required by the county, including containment of sulfuric acid used in the process, and “as far as we’re concerned is able to go ahead with his facility.” Svoboda said Shirley made a presentation recently to the planning commission and is working with Hampton officials to start moving into his new location by February. Shirley, who plans to move processing equipment from his pilot plant in Des Moines, Iowa, told Green Markets he wants to be in operation in four or five months. Still, there are those in the community who are concerned because the recycling involves 25,000 gallons of sulfuric acid, even though Shirley reassured the county planners it would be kept in a double-walled containment meeting OSHA and EPA requirements and that there will be no odors or noise. Shirley said he also is working on plans to expand in Nebraska and move into Kansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. He declines specifics about his process, but said garbage, including normal food wastes and any kind of cellulose, is mixed with a reagent, which includes the acid and small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. “The process deteriorates the trash in a matter of seconds and causes the mixture to encapsulate the ingredients to give us a slow-release fertilizer,” he explained. He noted that studies at Texas A&M and Penn State showed that his fertilizer is non-water soluble, and because of the slow release requires a third less nitrogen than 25 other brands used for comparison. “We’ll be doing a service for a lot of city landfills who want to do away with the waste,” Shirley boasted. “And we can produce a fertilizer with five basic elements, including sulfur, for $500/ton.”