Plant to 'turn landfill rubbish into biofuels'

A Canadian company has announced that it is to build a plant in north-east Missouri that will turn waste into biofuels.

Montreal-based Enerkem will build and operate a second-generation biofuels production facility and will be supplied by around 189,000 tonnes of unsorted municipal solid waste (MSW) a year by the Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority of Mississippi.

The plant will convert close to 60 per cent of the MSW that arrives at the Three Rivers landfill.

A majority of the waste will be converted into biofuels, while the remainder will be sent to recycling processors.

Vincent Chornet, president and chief executive officer of Enerkem, said: "This project is unique in that it uses a mix of municipal solid waste – which has negative cost – and wood residues as feedstock."

The company is backed by US venture capital firms Rho Ventures and Braemar Energy Ventures, along with the Canadian investment fund BDR Capital and its management.