Of the 1,035 tons of dead fish the county had received as of Friday, only 144 tons have been suitable for the Waste-to-Energy facility, according to recycling program manager Stephanie Watson. So, about 15% of Red Tide debris comes to our Waste-to-Energy facility, she said. While we would prefer for it all to go here, we can t because, if the load is sandy, it s not good for our equipment at the Waste-to-Energy facility. It s a big machine. So, we send it to the landfill.
The facility generates enough electricity each day to power about 45,000 homes. Watson said typically between 80-to-90% of all the county’s garbage is burned to save precious space in the landfill.