Utilities Solid Waste home

Solid Waste: The Big Picture

Pinellas County residents and businesses discard approximately one million tons of solid waste every year. The primary goal of the Pinellas County Utilities Department of Solid Waste Operations is to responsibly dispose of this waste in the most environmentally safe manner. To meet this challenge, we use an integrated approach to solid waste management. Integrated solid waste management represents a combination of methods used to manage the municipal waste stream, including waste reduction, recycling, combustion, and landfilling.

Our Mission

Pinellas County Utilities Department of Solid Waste Operations provides safe, competitive, and environmentally sound integrated solid waste services to all Pinellas County citizens. These services emphasize public awareness and communication so our citizens can make educated choices concerning proper management of their solid waste. Our integrated system includes a <link to each program> sanitary landfill</a>, <a>waste-to-energy facility</a>, <a>household electronics and chemical collection program</a>, <a>artificial reefs</a>, <a>recycling drop off centers</a>, <a>yard waste to mulch recycling</a>, and <a>solid waste and recycling education</a>. The knowledge and proper use of these services helps maintain the quality of life in Pinellas County.

General Information

Pinellas County Utilities is an enterprise system, which means it operates like a business, receiving no funds from the County tax base. All operating costs are paid with revenues generated by the Solid Waste system. Utilities Department of Solid Waste Operations generates revenue through user disposal fees, the sale of electricity and recovered metals, and capacity payments from Florida Power Corporation (FPC). Capacity payments are payments FPC pays to the County for building a facility that generates electricity. Payments are based on 54,750 kilowatts being generated each day. This figure represents 70 percent of the rated capacity of the plantÕs turbine generators. A portion of the revenue from the sale of electrical power is shared with Wheelabrator Pinellas Inc., the contractor who operates the plant.

Monthly Revenue Averages

Disposal Fees: $2,912,500

Electricity Sales: $427,200

Metals Sales: $54,300

Capacity Payments from FPC: $1,400,000

Environmental Safety

A bentonite clay slurry wall that is inset into a natural clay layer called the Hawthorne formation surrounds the 750-acre facility called Bridgeway Acres. The combination of the clay layer and slurry wall creates a ÒbathtubÓ effect that does not allow the discharge of water from this site to enter the surrounding groundwater. The Waste-to-Energy plant employs state of the art air pollution control technology to ensure that emissions from the plant stay well below the Federal standards.

Technical Management Committee (TMC)

In 1975, Chapter 75-487, a special act of the Florida Legislature, made provisions for a Technical Management Committee, or TMC. The TMC meets periodically to advise Pinellas County on issues that affect the operation of the solid waste system.

v Next meeting:

v <link>Agenda for the next meeting </a>

v <link>Minutes from the last meeting </a>