Category: News

EEC|CCNY research group showcased their expertise and commitment to advancing sustainable waste management technologies during a series of notable conferences over the summer of 2023. The group’s participation began at the biennial meetings of Materials and Energy from Refuse (MatER) and the International Conference on Final Sinks in Piacenza, Italy. From June 5-7, at the esteemed Polytechnic University of Milan’s Piacenza campus, current members from the Combustion and Catalysis Lab of CCNY represented the group at MatER’s 6th and the International Conference on Final Sinks 7th meetings since 2013 and 2011, respectively. During these events, the group delivered two impactful talks and showcased two posters.

Immediately following was the 28th biennial meeting of the North American Catalysis Society (NAM) held in Providence, Rhode Island, from June 18th to 23rd, 2023. The CCL group’s three members stood out among attendees, delivering a noteworthy talk and displaying two informative posters. The remarkable contributions by Kaitlyn Lawrence earned the prestigious Kokes Award, a testament to her innovative research in the field.

Also part of the summer conference circuit was the 10th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management, CHANIA 2023, held in Chania, Greece, from June 21 to 24, 2023. The conference featured Marco J. Castaldi, a distinguished keynote speaker from the City University of New York. The EEC|CCNY director presented on “Life cycle and experimental assessment of sustainable thermal processing of waste plastics.”

The EEC|CCNY research group’s active engagement at these prestigious conferences exemplified their commitment to addressing critical challenges in the domains of Materials and Energy from Refuse and Sustainable Solid Waste Management.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Golam Chowdhury, former EEC|CCNY associate and CCNY Master’s graduate in Chemical Engineering, on securing a prestigious position as an Assistant Chemical Engineer with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) post-graduation.

Golam will undoubtedly make valuable contributions to the DEP’s mission. Moreover, we are thrilled to announce that Golam’s Master’s thesis work will be showcased at the highly anticipated AIChE Annual Meeting, where he will present his findings in an oral presentation. This recognition further underscores his commitment to advancing the field of Chemical Engineering and serves as a testament to the quality of research conducted at EEC|CCNY.

The bi-annual WTERT Conference resumed in October of 2022 at The City College of New York after a COVID-imposed hiatus. The in-person event benefitted from global participation. Two days of sessions covered academic and industrial topics. The President of CCNY, Dr. Vincent Boudreua, opened up the proceedings for plenary speakers Doug Wicks (US Department of of Energy ARPA-E), David Biederman (SWANA), and Michael Van Brunt (Covanta).

Attendees from years past again participated in the 2022 conference, and new faces were very much welcomed to add their fresh perspective to the waste-to-energy material and energy recovery conversation.

Research Associates from EEC|CCNY and the Combustion and Catalysis Lab presented their latest research in poster and oral presentations.

We look forward to hosting the next conference in order to continue the rich exchange of ideas and lively discussion.

Congratulations to Golam Chowdhury and Lauren Creadore who recently graduated from The City College of New York. Both students earned Master’s degrees (M. Eng.) after completing their dissertations on pyrolysis and combustion respectively. Golam earned a Master’s in Engineering in Chemical Engineering and published a thesis titled ‘Investigation of Recyclable Crude Oil from Biomass and Plastics’. Lauren earned a Master’s in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and published a thesis titled ‘A Study of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Performance of an Internal Combustion Engine Operating on Landfill Gas Blends as Fuel’. They have both continued to conduct research post-graduation.

Kaitlyn Lawrence was one of the recipients of the ‘2021-2022 Floyd Hasselriis Educational Support’ awards sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) Materials and Energy Recovery Division. Kaitlyn is a second year PhD student conducting research in the Combustion and Catalysis Lab directed by Professor Marco J. Castaldi.

The Floyd Hasselriis award was established to support students and institutions interested in solid waste management and related fields, is named after the late Floyd Hasselriis, a major contributor to the fields of incineration and thermal treatment technologies and author of the foremost text on the topic of refuse-derived fuel.

Congratulations Kaitlyn!

In order to shed light on the current state of advanced recycling technologies, EEC|CCNY conducted a study on recent life cycle assessments of advanced recycling. The full report can found here. The technical report highlighted key data that were obtained from multiple life cycle assessments, and comparisons were made across the LCAs to accurately capture the greenhouse gas impact of these technologies.

This report was of interest to several publications that cover scientific and recycling news, including Science Magazine, who found the study relevant to the latest news in atmospheric science, Recycling Today, and Science Daily.

Issues pertaining to waste were covered in Curbed, a part of New York magazine, as part of their ‘Hot Garbage Month’ (August 2022). From this article series, Professor Castaldi consulted on and was quoted in an article that the captures the waste issues in NYC quite accurately.  This article also includes many other experts and practitioners in the waste management area that clearly have extensive knowledge and practical experience trying to sustainably manage the trash NYC citizens produce every day. The full article can be found here: https://www.curbed.com/2022/08/nyc-trash-landfill-incineration-recycling-compost-voyage-gross.html.

Professor Castaldi, in collaboration with former CCL and EEC alumnus Jeffrey LeBlanc, publish in Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Waste to Energy as a Substitute for Landfills – ASME) on the attributes of waste to energy for sustainable waste management.  The article was also co-authored by Mr. Tony Licata, Fellow ASME.  That publication resulted in the interest of other articles (Sustainable Plastics) that cite some of the main benefits.

CNBC offers coverage of the various waste management strategies in California, highlighting, in particular, Waste to Energy. The video features technical experts in the field including Susan Thorneloe of the U.S. Environmental Protection agency (who has published policy analysis work such as “Is It Better To Burn or Bury Waste for Clean Electricity Generation?”), and Professor Marco J. Castaldi of CCNY.

Viewers get an inside look at a Covanta Waste to Energy facility, the Stanislaus Resource Recovery Facility, that operates at net energy output of 20 megawatts and takes in nearly 30,000 tons of waste annually. This capaicity is sufficient to power approximately 18,000 homes.

When asked about the relative merits between landfill and Waste to Energy, Susan Thorneloe pointed to the merits of Wate to Energy being the extraction of the energy value from the waste, the metal recovery, and the avoidance of methane that is produced in the landfill alternative scenario.

A recent guest opinion piece in The Post-Standard newspaper (web address syracuse.com) discussed advanced recycling of plastics. That article can be found here. In an effort to disseminate accurate scientific and engineering information, Professor Marco J. Castaldi has written a letter to the editor in response to the original opinion, specifically drawing distinction between various technologies which are sometimes conflated, misunderstood, and/or mischaracterized. The full text of this letter is reprinted immediately below.

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To the Editor:

Recent op-ed writers went to great lengths to mischaracterize emergent technologies that are developing to manage nearly 90% of plastics that do not get recycled today (”Plastic burning ‘has no place in climate-forward NY’ (Guest Opinion by Judith Enck and Tok M. Oyewole),” March 14, 2022).

Advanced recycling technologies focus on hard-to-recycle plastics such as flexible pouches, films and tubes, converting them back into their raw materials to be used to make new plastics. This process allows plastics to be recycled each time a product is disposed by the consumer.

The writers call this “burning,” which is completely incorrect. Their characterization represents a clear misunderstanding of technologies and thermodynamic principles. Typical advanced recycling technologies operate with no oxygen or air to convert post-use plastics to a liquid or gaseous state. Incineration destroys waste materials by burning, without recovering energy or materials. This is entirely different from advanced recycling.

Advanced recycling technologies today are being deployed by both large plastics companies and multiple entrepreneurial enterprises to “remake” once non-recyclable plastics. These technologies will divert non-recycled plastics from landfills and the environment.

Advanced recycling enables the creation of new plastics from used plastics, displacing the need to extract fossil feedstock. Importantly, they operate like other manufacturing facilities, subject to federal, state and local regulations. A recent study found air emissions from a typical advanced recycling facility to be roughly the same as familiar facilities such as hospitals, universities and food manufacturers.

Innovative technologies need time to mature and often are confused with existing ones, and the op-ed authors have added to that confusion. It is not helpful when mischaracterizations and poor understanding are disseminated. As New York state considers how to recover its non-recycled plastics, it would be sensible to listen to scientists and engineers who understand advanced plastics recycling technologies.

Marco J. Castaldi, Ph.D.

Professor, Chemical Engineering Department

Director, Earth System Science and Environmental Engineering Program

The City College of New York

New York City