So I had never really heard of Plasco or their plasma arc incineration process (or gas plasma process) until your post, so I looked into it.
Their website and the video that demonstrates the process is like a hokey marketing scam that really left me thinkin that it's too good to be true, but I looked up information on the technology behind plasma arc incineration.
Here is a better diagram than the one featured in their video, and by better I mean that it had actual pictures of the machinery rather than a spinning saw distributing metals into recycle bins. The site also has a lot of great links about the science behind the technology.
http://www.squidoo.com/plasma-gasificationThe following site outlined a report created to decide on the best economical alternative to Toronto, Ontario shipping their garbage to Michigan (wow!).
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/DFE2008_Disposal_of_non-recyclablesIt was compared to incineration or landfill as one of three options for disposal of non-recycleables. I think it's important to mention that the process is NOT entirely clean, but rather the benefits of recycled gases and the production of road aggregates were allowed to counteract the negative acts of the heavy-metal outputs and give it a rating of a near-neutral carbon footprint (overseas it was flaunted as a negative carbon footprint).
Oh, and while it is stated that the process has worked elsewhere, there is still not yet a fully functional facility running in Canada. The Ottawa trial-facility is running but processing such a small fraction of the cities waste materials that it is barely worth mentioning.
I guess my opinion on the matter is that I would hate to see the government dump tax money and build an even greater deficit just to say they are taking a step towards environmental responsibility. If we build and operate the facility just to have it barely affect the tonnes of garbage making it to the landfill it will be a waste. If more fuel is used to transport garbage to the site where it is processed than what we would be saving in reclaimed gases, it will be a waste.
Because the technology is so newly applied to waste management I would hesitate to step in the direction for our city to apply it to our needs without doing a more comprehensive look into the specific requirements we have.
While I sound against the idea, that is not at all the case. Upon reading the articles about this it seems that there were so many in favour that I actually had to really search for the downsides. I am definitely all for putting an end to waste mismanagement as well as any new forms of recycling available to us, but I truly believe that it is of the utmost importance to stay on top of these developments, weigh the negatives and positives of every possibility, and to avoid being greenwashed with notions projected by large companies looking to make their dime.
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