For a detailed description of how the Plasco Conversion System works, please visit the Technology Overview section of our website.

For every tonne of waste processed with the Plasco Conversion System you get:

· 1.4 MWh of electricity
· 300 liters of potable quality water
· 7 – 15 kilograms of metal
· 5 – 10 kilograms of commercial salt
· 150 kilograms of construction aggregate
· 5 kilograms of agricultural fertilizer

For data on the overall emissions from a Plasco facility, please visit the ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE section of our website.

The timeline to construct a facility is approximately one year from start of site work. Site work can start after firm agreement with the waste provider and receipt of applicable permits.

Testing emissions continuously using continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) equipment is clearly the safest and most transparent monitoring, and is Plasco’s method of choice. However, CEM technology is not commercially available to measure all substances. For those substances for which there are no CEM systems, sample testing is still required.

Plasco Energy Group Inc. currently implements the very best continuous emissions monitoring equipment for SO_X, NO_X, HCl and organic matter. Our research and development team is constantly researching new methods of monitoring emissions. Plasco will be implementing emerging technologies for continuous emissions monitoring of other contaminants such as mercury and dioxins as they become available. We will also be testing other systems that can detect minute amounts of other stack-tested criteria on a continuous basis.

Digging up existing dumps is not as efficient environmentally or economically as dealing with the massive quantity of new waste we landfill every day. However, Plasco is open to situations where using landfilled waste makes sense to supplement new waste streams.

Plasco's solution is a way to protect taxpayers from higher tipping fees in the future. We lock in tipping fees for a given level of service over a 20-year period and as part of the contract with a city, the tipping fees escalate only according to a mutually agreed upon fraction of the inflation rate. In this way, the City knows how much it will be paying over the 20-year period and the City can minimize the risk of price volatility.

Plasco plants are meant to be part of an integrated waste management system. Our solution is for waste that recycling programs can’t deal with economically. We want municipalities to be effective at removing glass, metal and any other part of the municipal waste that can have a use or create value. There are many plastics that can and should be recycled. But there are many that simply can’t be recycled in a way that is both economical and beneficial to the environment. Even with tremendous improvement in our ability to recycle and reuse there will be a massive waste problem. Plasco provides a solution that recovers all the value of residual waste material.

Independent testing has been done on the aggregate product. The testing conducted on the “slag” produced from our technology that is sold as construction aggregate was performed in accordance with Ontario Ministry of Environment standards. These tests show that our slag is completely inert. In fact the tests found that it actually outperforms soda pop bottles you buy at the grocery store. Each plant will be required to have its slag independently tested.

The construction aggregate that our slag can be used for currently sells for between $9 and $19 a tonne depending on where you are in North America. It is in high demand and currently is surfaced mined, which also produces greenhouse gases and defaces the land it is mined from. Using our recycled material for construction aggregate eliminates these greenhouse gases and ugly scars on the land.

Waste contains between 20% and 35% moisture. This moisture is removed from the PlascoSyngas and cleaned.

Any large waste that has greater value being recycled or that should be sent elsewhere is manually removed. In case such waste cannot be removed, a Plasco plant has excess capacity to absorb any unexpected spikes caused by certain types of garbage – even material that is illegal to throw out but sometimes still finds its way into the waste stream. In the case of batteries, the metals would be cleaned from the gas (the quantity will not impact the effectiveness of the cleaning). Essentially, they will be removed through our cleaning process and sent for controlled disposal, where they should have been sent to begin with. Had they been sent to landfill, they would be left to pollute our land and water resources.

There are two key greenhouse gas benefits to the Plasco process. The first benefit is that diverting waste from landfill means that there are no methane emissions from landfill. Since methane has a global warming potential 23 times that of CO₂, there is a greenhouse gas savings of approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents for every tonne of waste processed. The second benefit is that the Plasco process reduces the amount of power required from dirtier sources like coal. From 1 tonne of waste, the Plasco process generates about 1.4 MWh of electricity and releases 0.6 tonne of CO₂ equivalents. Generating 1.4 MWh of electricity from coal releases 1.4 tonne of CO₂e. This means that for each tonne of waste processed Plasco saves 0.8 tonne of CO₂e due to power displacement. The total greenhouse gas savings from a Plasco facility is therefore 2.3 tonne CO₂e per tonne of waste processed. (Note that there will be some minor variation around these numbers, depending on the type of waste processed)