Ohio Waste Authority Contracts for Waste, Recycling Facilities

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) will add a landfill receiving facility (LRF) and a material recovery facility (MRF) in Grove City, Ohio.

Team Gemini, a sustainable project design company in Orlando, Fla., will build the facilities, according to a news release. Columbus area-based SWACO will own and operate the LRF, while Team Gemini will own and operate the MRF. The buildings will cover a combined area of more than 185,000 square feet.

Team Gemini is investing up to $300 million in the project, which will create up to 300 jobs. The facilities should be online in two years, although total construction could take up to four years.

SWACO and Gemini said the agreement will allow for SWACO to reduce its use of landfills and eventually eliminate the need, as the LRF works with the waste stream recovery and recycling facility, which is being called the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) will be delivered to the receiving facility, where it will be directed to either the MRF or the landfill, which will allow haulers to remain on pavement and not climb the hill, therefore reducing carbon dioxide emissions and power needs.

The MRF will be able to process up to 2,000 tons per day, with plans to process the entire waste stream in the future.

Organic waste will be preprocessed for use in anaerobic digesters and other sustainable energy generation technologies.

Gemini also signed a lease with SWACO to develop an industrial and research park nearby that will be powered by the waste stream. Tenants will have access to recyclable by-products made from waste at the facility.