GBB Assisting Cleveland with Procurement of Long-Term, Sustainable Solutions to Waste Management

The City of Cleveland Department of Public Works has issued a Request for Proposals from qualified firms interested in proposing to design, build, own and operate a Waste Reduction and Recycling (WR&R) Project. The City will evaluate the proposals and plans to finalize a selection in early September of this year. Legislation required for the project will be subject to review and approval by Cleveland City Council.

"With this RFP, we are seeking to increase our recycling rates, reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill and do so in a way that is sustainable and economically beneficial to the City and our residents," said Mayor Frank G. Jackson. "It is an effort that helps the City move forward towards our Zero Waste goals."

The RFP outlines the scope of services to include design, permitting, financing, operating and maintaining the WR&R project. The service contract in the RFP seeks to require all proposals to agree to a full 30-year term of operation with two, 10-year renewable options at the City's discretion. The successful proposer will:

• Receive waste collection from residents and commercial businesses in the City as part of Municipal Solid Waste Collection (MSW) activities. Additional MSW may be received from other communities in the region;

• Manage and process the waste received from the City's MSW collection to recover recyclables not collected in the City's curbside recycling program and possibly use other processes for organic materials;

• Produce MSW engineered fuel to be sold as a coal substitute to Cleveland Thermal a local company that supplies steam to the City, County and other downtown businesses, as a long term purchaser of the municipal solid-waste engineered fuel produced by the project; and,

• Design and operate in such a manner as to provide for public tours for educational purposes.

"Our goal is to find a solution to provide the highest quality of services to our city," said Council President Kevin Kelley. "Council looks forward to working with the administration to find a long-term waste management solution that will create a greener city that is not only healthy for the environment, but for our residents."

The RFP is designed to work in concert with the ongoing expansion of automated waste collection and curbside recycling pickup, efforts to improve recycling habits by residents, and the city's Climate Action Plan.

The City of Cleveland entered into a professional services contract with GBB for assistance with this project. The GBB Project Team helped draft the RFP and define the proposed system, which includes: waste stream quantities and characteristics; waste collection system; existing and proposed waste reduction and recycling programs; site(s) available for a proposed system; acceptable technologies and approaches; performance standards; and, ownership options. The team will also assist the City during the procurement process, the evaluation of proposals and contract negotiations. Joining GBB for this assignment is Ohio-based GT Environmental, Inc.

This assignment follows services GBB provided to the City in early 2013, which included an evaluation of the City's previous Request for Information and Qualifications (RFIQ) and Supplemental Request for Information and Qualifications (SRIQ) for a Municipal Solid Waste to Energy Facility. GBB also provided a ranking of responses, identification, and analysis of project development opportunities, a proposed short-listing of companies for each of the project development opportunities, and a proposed public involvement plan.

View City's Press Release >>

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In February, the Prince William County, VA Board of Supervisors approved a Phase One Agreement with LEEP Holdings, LLC (LEEP) of Vienna, VA to develop a Waste Conversion Demonstration Project at the Prince William County Landfill. The agreement specifies the necessary detailed planning, engineering, and financing arrangements for the Project. The planning/engineering and financing work is scheduled to be completed in November 2014 at which time a final service agreement for construction and operation will be issued with implementation beginning at that time and lasting approximately 9 months.

This agreement followed a County procurement process. GBB assisted in the procurement, evaluation, and negotiation process for the County's development agreement with LEEP.

LEEP proposed to process up to 400 tons per day of mixed municipal solid waste to produce a number of valuable materials, including Balkrete Aggregate, a patented green building product; refuse-derived fuel pellets; and recovered metals. The County will provide the site and financially support the project by funding a portion of the capital costs to be paid back from project revenues. The County will pay LEEP a fee for each ton of waste processed and diverted from the County's landfill.

The Project is part of an overall goal to develop renewable energy for a future Eco-Park at the County landfill, highlighting the landfill as a resource to the community for production of renewable energy and environmental education. The County, located on the Potomac River and part of the Washington Metro Area, is the second most populous county in Virginia with over 430,000 residents. In 2013, the County's Solid Waste Division earned the Virginia Governor's Environmental Excellence Award for its Sustainability Program.

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Harvey Gershman Sharing WTE Insight at Infocast's July Summit in Chicago

Infocast's Waste to Bio: Energy, Fuels, Gas & Chemicals Summit, taking place July 8-10 in Chicago, is the gathering place for waste service companies, feedstock suppliers, conversion technology companies and project developers to meet and network with financiers, municipalities, off-takers and Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractors.

The event will bring together key waste conversion players to develop the path towards tackling the complexities of developing and financing the next generation of waste conversion projects.

The Summit will also be the place to learn how the latest federal and state policy incentives are impacting the waste conversion market.

Harvey Gershman will be a key contributor with 3 presentations during the event:

• "Today's Project Finance Markets for Waste to Energy Projects"

• "Counties, Municipalities & Off-Takers Perspectives on Waste Conversion Projects"

• "Waste-to-Energy Tech Update"

Visit the Summit's website to register and for more information about the event.

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