EcoComplex Gives Industrial Park a Green Twist
Images Catawba County.com - Story by Hollie Deese - July 03, 2008
PalletOne turns wood waste into pallets for commercial or industrial use at the EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility. When Barry Edwards began thinking about creating a local methane-to-energy project back in 1995, even he couldn’t have foreseen that today Catawba County would have one of the nation’s premier biodiesel projects in place.
The EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility, which turns waste into energy to be reused among businesses within the complex, is focused on using green energy in future development in Catawba.
“Living green, being green is on the tip of everybody’s tongue,” says Edwards, director of Catawba County Utilities and Engineering. “I feel strongly it is our collective responsibility to practice, teach and increase the conservation of our natural resources. I feel equally as strong that harmonious systems that provide collective sustainability and value are intrinsically perpetual. Thus, Catawba County’s EcoComplex is designed to pursue these objectives through recovering and employing all usable resources from the byproducts and waste streams of county citizens and EcoComplex entities.”
Existing waste from the landfill will be burned to create energy for businesses in the complex. Another function of the project works by converting sawdust byproducts from Gregory Wood Products into material for PalletOne, the largest pallet manufacturer in the United States.
When constructed, the bioenergy facility will consist of a wood-fired steam production plant. A brick company has verbally agreed to locate within the EcoComplex at a later date, using the heat produced to fuel the kilns. Talks are also in place to devote 100 acres for greenhouse space. Soil and composting companies also have the potential to become partners.
A proposed sludge processing facility will replace the existing facility in Fairgrove Business Park, which is expected to be at capacity in the next four years.
The county is also finalizing a contract with Appalachian State University for locating a biodiesel research facility within the EcoComplex. That facility will test biodiesel being produced by several companies and will test crops being grown by local farmers.
“The idea is, ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ Everyone is feeding off each other. Everybody is creating jobs, and, in essence, producing from their neighbor,” says Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. “We want to generate as many useful products off of that waste stream in as many circles as we can before it leaves the site.”
The idea of a closed-loop energy facility is new but already gaining popularity in Catawba County. Residents may not be able to tap into the energy directly, but the improved air quality, reduced waste in the landfill and new jobs are going to be an immediate benefit.
“I think the community loves the concept,” Millar says. “The whole world is waking up to being green, and it only makes sense.”
