In light of all the news on global warming, businesses and industries across South Carolina are “going green” with the creation of more environmentally friendly operations.

In perhaps no other sector are environmental concerns more heightened than in the landfill business. The Aiken-based Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority is no exception.

The TRSWA on Feb. 29 began taking landfill methane gas about 15.8 miles through a pipeline from the landfill site in Jackson to Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Beech Island, where it will be used to produce steam. The plant produces well-known brands such as Kleenex facial tissue, Huggies diapers and Pull-Ups training pants.

Officials broke ground on the $13 million project in the fall of 2007. It is expected to go online April 1. The project was funded through municipal bonds.

Line cleaning and testing will continue for two weeks. Kimberly-Clark’s boilers were modified in December 2007 to accommodate the project.

Illinois-based Siemens Building Technologies Inc. partnered in the project by building and designing the gas collection facility and pipeline.

The pipeline will provide 1,800-cubic feet of landfill gas per minute to fuel steam boilers at the Beech Island facility.

Kimberly-Clark will purchase gas under a 15-year supply agreement with the TRSWA. The company will pay most of the piping costs.

Officials estimate that with current natural gas prices at $9 for 1 million British thermal units (BTUs), Three Rivers will cap the gas charge for Kimberly Clark at $6.50 for 1 million BTUs. The contract also guarantees a floor price of $4.50 for 1 million BTUs.

It is estimated that at current energy prices, Kimberly-Clark could save as much as $500,000 a year.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced as organic material decomposes in landfills. Methane is not as clean as natural gas, which will require that Kimberly-Clark clean it.

The recovery of landfill gases for energy is aimed at providing a local source of alternative energy and improving air quality.

Colin Covington, Three Rivers general manager, said the project was embarked upon as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program.

Covington said other alternatives were examined, such as providing electricity to utilities, but the conversion of fuel to electricity was less efficient and cost-effective than converting fuel into steam.

“They (Kimberly-Clark) will utilize every pound of gas we can generate,” Covington said, noting that the landfill is currently generating about 400,000 BTUs per minute. Kimberly-Clark “could use five times of that amount if we could make it,” Covington said.

EPA officials estimate that Three River’s annual reduction in greenhouse gases would be like removing 41,000 cars from the road, reducing oil consumption by more than 500,000 barrels or planting nearly 59,000 acres of forests.

The partnership comes at a time when Kimberly-Clark has undergone a multimillion-dollar expansion of its Aiken County facility.

The company added almost 108,000 square feet for the production of Huggies diapers and Pull-Ups training pants, plus increased warehouse space by 78,000 square feet. The company also broke ground on a 900,000-square-foot expansion of its tissue facility. An estimated 250 jobs were added at the 40-year-old Beech Island plant.

Calhoun County Council Chairman David Summers, a member of the TRSWA board, said Kimberly-Clark will use “a clean, viable product” which would otherwise have to be “burned off” under S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control regulations.

“It is a win-win for both of us,” Summers said. “It shows you that, in some cases, the government and industry can work together for the good of the people. This is another opportunity of what we can do with that landfill.” 

A look back

TRSWA was formed in 1994 when six counties asked their regional Lower Savannah Council of Governments for help in designing a Subtitle D landfill in an effort to address solid waste management demands.

In examining the most economical means of complying with the Solid Waste Act of 1991 and the requirement for a costly Subtitle D landfill, nine counties formed the consortium.

Three Rivers is now a nine-county collaborative effort including Orangeburg, Calhoun, Bamberg, Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Saluda, Edgefield and McCormick counties.

The counties all signed a 30-year service commitment, which was needed to borrow $21 million to build the landfill. The landfill opened July 1, 1998.

From the very beginning, Three Rivers has attracted a great deal of attention, including receiving the state’s Palmetto Partnership Certificate of Excellence. 

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.

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