VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - While Vancouver debates whether our garbage should be burned in high tech incinerators, the city of Seattle has found a greener way to deal with its trash. It sends a substantial portion of its trash to Oregon where it's put in a landfill but that's just the start of the process.
Seattle City Councillor Bruce Harrell says the methane generated by the decaying garbage is then turned into electricity. "Basically it's used to crank up internal combustion engines. In this case, the Oregon facility has six internal combustion engines connected to generators to make electricity."
Harrell says Seattle buys back the power for $2.5 million a year. He says the landfill produces enough methane to power-up about 5,600 Seattle homes.
He also notes the trash is shipped to Oregon by train to make the trip as efficient as possible, adding so far the system has received nothing but positive feedback.