The Lee County Waste To Energy Facility Expansion Project has won the Florida Chapter of the American Public Works Association “Project Of The Year” award in the Structures and Environment category.
The $120 million construction project demonstrated use of good construction management techniques resulting in completion of the project on schedule and under budget. Lee County issued and administered 55 individual purchase orders and contracts for the facility. The project met and exceeded all financial, environmental, and safety goals. It is one of only a few Florida facilities that generate “Renewable Energy Credits”.
The addition of a third combustion unit at the Lee County Waste To Energy facility increased the amount of waste the facility can process by 50 percent. This means that 1,836 tons of municipal waste can be processed every day. Lee County’s garbage is burned at about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, generating clean, renewable energy as a by product of the combustion process. The energy created supplies the Lee County Solid Waste Division the power to run the Waste To Energy facility, the Recycling Facility, and the Transfer Station at the Buckingham complex and allows for the sale of an additional 45 Megawatt in power. This is enough energy to supply 36,000 homes.
The original Waste To Energy facility has been operating for 14 years. The expansion project came on line in August of 2007. The facility has helped offset 5.5 million tons of greenhouse gases and has removed and recycled 145,000 tons of metal from the garbage.
The third combustion unit meets state and federal emissions limits more stringent than those required for the original two-unit plant construction, resulting in a facility with the lowest over-all limits of any U.S.-based waste to energy combustion unit.
The Lee County Waste To Energy facility operates as a zero discharge facility, releasing no process wastewater off site. The plant uses recycled waste water from a Fort Myers municipal waste water treatment plant, adding an additional layer of sustainability.
Award winners will be recognized at a luncheon on April 30, 2009 in West Palm Beach.

Source: Lee County government