Mining landfills for energy and profit

A Belgian company is removing the raw materials from dumps, making both energy and building materials out of them - and releasing the land for redevelopment.

Group Machiels, the Belgian waste management company behind the idea, began researching the idea of landfill mining in 2006. Since then, it has collected 2,000-3,000 tons of material for testing, assessing each area for recycling and energy generation value.

"In Europe, we don't have any mining left, except the materials that have been imported and are now in landfills. We don't have a choice but to get them back," says Patrick Laevers, director of Group Machiels.

Machiels has formed a joint venture with Advanced Plasma Power, a UK company that converts non-recyclable residue into a mixture of clean-burning natural gas and a building material called Plasmarok.

The concept of mining landfills has been around for years, but it has taken rising energy prices and higher demand for recyclables (notably plastic and metals), to make landfill mining viable for companies like Machiels. Government support for the project in the form of renewable energy credits has also made the project more viable.

For more information visit http://www.machiels.com/company-detail.aspx?ID=885c55e0-f3b6-4fe6-aa25-1fa7bfc312dd