Projects

Current CT Efforts

Southern California Conversion Technology Conference

On July 29, 2016 Public Works hosted the Southern California Conversion Technology Conference, which was attended by approximately 200 people. The goal of the conference was to educate conference attendees, which were made up of elected officials, regulators, representatives of local jurisdictions, members of industry, and environmental groups, on the many benefits of an integrated approach with CTs. Conference agenda topics included: conversion technologies and best practices throughout the world, environmental findings from CT studies and projects, CTs and sustainability, and California projects, permitting, and legislation. There were a total of 20 speakers including Assemblymember Mike Gatto.

Because of the success of the 2016 Conference, Public Works plans to host more CT conferences in the future. To view videos of the conference panels visit the Conference tab.

White Paper - Comparative Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis of Alternative Scenarios for Waste Treatment and/or Disposal

A Comparative Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Analysis was commissioned by Public Works to compare the net GHG emissions of two scenarios. The baseline scenario is a transport and disposal of residuals from a mixed waste Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in a modern sanitary landfill. The alternative scenario is processing the residuals at an Integrated MRF with CT. The Comparative Analysis shows the net environmental benefits of managing residual solid waste using anaerobic digestion and gasification at an integrated CT facility, as opposed to transporting it to a landfill for disposal. This analysis will provide tremendous assistance in educating stakeholders of the necessity for CT facilities to improve air quality and combat climate change.

Comparative Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis: Briefing Report (1.7MB, PDF)

Comparative Analysis (4.2MB, PDF)

Comparative Analysis (with appendices) (12.0MB, PDF)

Potential Conversion Technology Project Sites and Technologies

On June 22, 2011, Public Works released two Requests for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to technology vendors and potential project financial partners. The RFEIs were widely distributed and responded to favorably. Companies that met the County's list of minimum criteria are included in a County database that is used by Public Works and is available to public and private project developers, specifically those who have expressed interest in developing a project and submitted a site to Public Works for evaluation. (See the Resources tab.) A similar evaluation process was completed by Public Works in 2007; however, the marketplace of technologies has expanded and advanced since that time warranting additional review.

Phase IV of the County's Conversion Technology Project focuses on facilitating the development of commercial-scale conversion technology facilities in the County of Los Angeles for the purpose of providing alternatives to landfill disposal of post-recycled MSW. An important component of Phase IV activities includes identifying and evaluating potential sites. Phase IV also includes working with stakeholders, including cites, solid waste facility owners and operators, and conversion technology companies, to encourage and facilitate the development of mutually beneficial projects within the County.

Los Angeles County Public Works provides biannual reports on the progress of conversion technologies (CT) in the county. The reports detail current CT projects that have achieved progress in the 6 month reporting period, as well as public outreach, benchmarking, milestones, and next steps. The most recent biannual report can be found along with older reports in the Resources tab.