Fiberight Plans Waste-to-Energy Facilities in Iowa

Fiberight LLC is planning to establish waste-to-energy and recycling operations in two Iowa cities.

The Catonville, Md.-based company is starting a facility in Blairtown that will turn municipal solid waste (MSW) into ethanol. It also plans to build a recycling plant in Marion that will turn some of the organic material it collects into compressed biogas for use by the city’s fleet.

The Blairstown facility initially was designed to produce about 5.4 million gallons of ethanol a year when Fiberight bought it in 2009, according to CEO Craig Stuart-Paul, in an e-mail. He said the economics of the plant can work because of the low cost of waste as a feedstock.

Fiberight’s Marion agreement will allow it to take some of the Cedar Rapids metro area waste, and the company will seek waste supply deals with Iowa City and Des Moines as well.

The facility also will capture light plastic and convert it to a polymeric wax for sale and the facility will divert for sale items like cardboard and metal.

The company has secured a $25 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a $2.9 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund and more than $20 million in private investment.