The Future of Solid Waste in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County produces over five million tons of waste annually, and it’s critical that we have the right infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing community and sustainably manage our waste now and into the future. Miami-Dade is developing a modern Sustainable Solid Waste Campus to update our waste system with cutting-edge technologies that protect both people and the environment.

Many countries around the world including Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France rely heavily on waste-to-energy production – in fact, 15% of waste globally is processed via waste-to-energy. Our new Sustainable Solid Waste Campus will be a state-of-the-art facility that diverts significant waste from landfills and converts solid waste into clean energy while following rigorous environmental and air quality standards to protect our community.

Miami-Dade County leadership and staff have spent the last year and a half researching and weighing the options to propose the safest and most sustainable possible solution to our waste challenges. We worked hard to make a decision guided by rigorous scientific analysis and research, and we heard extensively from the community, including multiple town halls and continuing conversations with residents.

The proposed Sustainable Solid Waste Campus offers the best option to meet our community's disposal needs, following rigorous environmental and air quality standards to protect our residents while also providing enough space to build a comprehensive facility with zero-waste technologies.

The Sustainable Solid Waste Campus will house the following:
- A waste-to-energy (WTE) facility that uses state-of-the-art technology to reduce our waste by up to 90%, diverting significant waste from landfills while converting solid waste into clean energy.
- Waste diversion facilities to include technology such as organics processing, sorting and recycling systems, biogas harvesting and repurposing initiatives, to continue to reduce our overall waste footprint as we push toward a zero-waste future.
The Campus will offer important benefits for people, the environment, and our overall community and economy:

Safe for people
- Produce significantly fewer emissions compared to historic waste combustion practices, thanks to innovations in technology and important updates to regulations.
- Follow cutting-edge pollution and odor controls that meet or exceed rigorous new air quality standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – which are even stricter for any new waste to energy facilities.
- Reduce impact on the environment and water quality by ensuring that potential chemical contaminants in residential and industrial waste are properly disposed of and processed.
Safe for the environment
- Reduce municipal solid waste and more than 1 million tons of waste that cannot be otherwise beneficially reused or recycled sent to landfills.
- Reduce the significant environmental and climate impacts of continuing to expand landfills and haul waste outside of the County.
- Recover and recycle 25,000 tons of metals from solid waste.
- Produce clean energy that will power the campus, charge electric vehicles, and supply power to as many as 70,000 households each year, helping reduce local greenhouse gas emissions from the local grid.
- Recycle and reuse ash from the plant in other products like cements and aggregates.
Benefits for the economy and community
- Create new green jobs.
- Protect rate payers, as waste-to-energy is the most fiscally and environmentally responsible long-term solution.
- Educate the public and future generations about sustainable waste management practices through an educational center as part of the Sustainable Solid Waste Campus.
Waste-to-energy is safe for people and the environment, relying on advanced modern technology to sustainably process waste.

First and foremost, waste-to-energy is safe. Waste-to-energy plants are closely monitored by state and federal agencies. This site would have cutting-edge pollution and odor controls that will meet or exceed rigorous new air quality standards proposed by the EPA – which are even stricter for any new waste-to-energy facilities.

Waste-to-energy production is heavily relied on in nations that tightly regulate human and environmental health including Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France. Our team visited many of these sites during our research process to ensure we build the safest possible facility. Like these plants, we will also ensure transparency by providing access to emissions readings. 

Finally, waste-to-energy is better for our economy and ratepayers. It is the most fiscally responsible long-term solution for our waste disposal needs. In Miami-Dade, we produce a lot of waste – double the national average per person – in part due to our thriving tourism economy, and waste-to-energy is the cleanest solution to handle this volume of waste. The facility will also generate green jobs to boost our local economy.
Our team visited some of the most advanced waste-to-energy facilities in Japan, Europe, and close to home in Palm Beach, to see how they work while protecting residents and minimizing nuisances.

In those places, waste-to-energy facilities are closely integrated into the communities they serve – inviting residents to spend time in close proximity to these facilities because they are safe. In Copenhagen, the waste-to-energy plant features a ski slope. The Japanese facility has heated pools on site.

And like those communities, we simply don't have enough space for new landfills, and shipping our trash elsewhere is both more expensive in the long term and unsustainable – as landfill generates more emissions, including methane gas, than waste-to-energy. Arcadis U.S. conducted a greenhouse gas analysis using data from EPA's 2024 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Factor Hub. According to the EPA, combusting waste emits approximately 25% fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per short ton of waste when compared to landfill. Our community needs a system that adapts to our growth, and waste-to-energy is a much more environmentally and fiscally responsible option than landfill, both reducing emissions and generating clean electricity.

Facilities Around the World

CopenHill, Denmark

The ARC (Amager Resource Center) waste-to-energy power plant in Copenhagen has been awarded ‘2021 World Building of the Year’ at the World Architecture Festival for its rooftop recreational area which includes a long dry ski slope wrapped around the building. It is located near the city center and designed to integrate closely with the community.

Learn more about: The waste-to-energy process at CopenHill.

Dubai Waste Management Centre

This waste-to-energy facility is a key part of the Emirate's strategy to manage waste sustainably. Opened in 2020, the facility aims to convert a significant portion of the city’s waste into energy, reducing landfill usage and generating renewable power.

Watch: How almost half of Dubai’s trash is turned into electricity.

Tokyo, Japan

There are actually nineteen waste incineration plants located in the central part of Tokyo. One of those, the Toshima Incineration Plant in Tokyo, was constructed with a large fitness center on-site including a swimming pool heated by plant operations while electricity is supplied from a steam-driven turbine. The plant outputs 7,800 kW of electricity, enough to supply 20,000 homes.

Watch: Waste incinerator in Tokyo is key to a greener city

Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility

The 21-acre facility can process around 2,175 tons of solid waste per day, producing in turn, at least 4,500 pounds of steam per ton. Citizens Thermal Energy (CTE) purchases the steam to power the downtown heating loop. This loop includes nearly all downtown businesses, as well as Indiana University, Purdue University's Indianapolis campus, and Eli Lilly, the area's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Facilities Across Florida

Numerous waste-to-energy facilities operate across the state of Florida and are located in close proximity to residential communities.
West Palm Beach Renewable Energy Facility

The Renewable Energy Facility in West Palm Beach is a $672,000,000, state-of-the-art waste-to-energy facility – the most advanced, efficient, cleanest and greenest waste-to-energy power plant in the world. The separation between the facility and the closest residential community is about 4,700 feet.

WIN Waste South Broward

The WIN Waste South Broward waste-to-energy facility diverts residential and commercial waste from landfills. Each year, WIN Waste South Broward converts about 824,000 tons of post-recycled waste into renewable energy through a highly efficient combustion process that meets strict federal and state standards – enough energy to power the equivalent of 41,000+ local homes and businesses. The separation between WinWaste South Broward facility and the nearest residential community is 943 feet.

Covanta Lake County Resource Recovery Facility

The Arlington Ridge community, a golf course community for residents aged 55 and up, is located within two miles of this facility, and a wildlife conservation area is located within five miles of the site. The distance from the Facility’s stack to the nearest residential property is 759 feet.
Innovations in technology along with updates to the regulatory system mean that modern waste-to-energy facilities produce significantly fewer emissions compared to historic waste combustion practices. But misunderstandings about the safety and impact of waste-to-energy production are common. Our aim is to help the community separate fact from fiction around some of the most frequent myths:

Myth: Waste-to-energy produces emissions dangerous to human health

Reality: Waste-to-energy emissions are regulated under the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) set emission limits for waste-to-energy facilities to protect human and environmental health. The EPA is currently working on setting even higher standards to safeguard public and ecological health.

There is wide scientific consensus that waste-to-energy systems do not adversely impact human health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has found there is no clear or consistent evidence to suggest significant adverse population health effects associated with modern waste-to-energy facilities. One study found that the health benefits offered by modern waste-to-energy plants outweigh any negative health effects. [Source: Journal of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology]

Myth: Waste-to-energy is worse for the environment than landfill

Reality: Waste-to-energy facilities have no methane emissions associated with their operations, unlike landfills, which are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the US.

In land-constrained areas like South Florida, dependence on landfills requires hauling waste great distances – generating significant CO2 and reducing the resilience of the waste system. Odor and air quality impacts from landfills are often described as a nuisance to surrounding communities. Landfills pose additional environmental challenges like managing leachate and potential impacts to groundwater. And landfills use land that would otherwise be available for conservation or other economically beneficial activities.

Myth: Waste-to-energy facilities will deter Miami-Dade County from other waste diversion initiatives

Reality: Miami-Dade County has always been committed to waste diversion and beneficial reuse of materials. Miami-Dade County began its residential recycling program in 1990 while the Resources Recovery Facility (RRF) processed household waste because it recognized that cardboard, plastic bottles, and other materials were better off being reused and recycled than being used as fuel.

More recently, the County has expanded on its waste diversion efforts through mulching green yard waste, expanding its procurement of recycled content products, and in undertaking the development of the Zero Waste Master Plan to expand reuse and waste diversion options across the waste stream and the County, among other activities. waste-to-energy is complementary to the County’s waste diversion initiatives and is part of the County’s movement towards a sustainable materials system and operation.

Myth: Waste-to-energy facilities negatively impact and are an eyesore for the neighboring communities

Reality: Waste-to-energy facilities have been incorporated as part of the communities they serve in different locations across the world. In Denmark, the waste-to-energy facility locally known as ‘Copenhill’, provides residents and tourists with an artificial ski slope atop the waste-to-energy facility. Copenhill is also a short walk from the official residence of the Danish Royal Family. Waste-to-energy facilities in Japan have been used to heat community pools that are used by residents.
Miami-Dade County’s journey to Zero Waste
Zero Waste is the ambitious and long-term goal of diverting 90% or more of solid waste from disposal and towards reuse or beneficial use. Miami-Dade County has been working on waste diversion initiatives for decades, but it wasn’t until 2021 under Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s leadership that the County started working towards significant waste diversion and zero waste goals. Miami-Dade produces over 5 million tons of waste a year and the journey toward becoming a Zero Waste County will require significant behavioral changes, policies, and commitment not just from local government but our residents and stakeholders across the County.
Timeline
- In 2021, Miami-Dade County’s Climate Action Strategy set the goal of reducing landfill waste per person by 50% by 2030.
- In 2022, Mayor Levine Cava proposed Miami-Dade County becoming a Zero Waste County and solicited feedback from the community.
- In 2023, DSWM’s Bond Engineer drafted a report detailing some measures that the County and Department would need to incorporate to begin working towards becoming a Zero Waste County.
- In 2024, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was drafted and advertised to hire a consultant to develop a Zero Waste Master Plan in collaboration with Miami-Dade County. The Zero Waste Master Plan, in coordination with the County, is expected to be completed in 2026.
Zero Waste hierarchies build on the old waste management hierarchy of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ by incorporating other measures like ‘Refuse’, ‘Redesign’, and ‘Reimagine’ into the waste hierarchy. Miami-Dade County will incorporate these zero-waste measures into the existing infrastructure that’s been developed over several decades as we work toward the goal of becoming a Zero Waste County.
Where the journey began
Miami-Dade County began diverting waste from its landfills and waste-to-energy facility in 1990 when it began its residential recycling program. As part of the residential recycling program, residents were required to recycle items in dedicated bins provided by the Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM). A few years later in 1993, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners began requiring commercial entities throughout the County to recycle at least three waste streams. These two actions laid the foundation for waste diversion in Miami-Dade. In an effort to streamline the recycling process in the County, Miami-Dade DSWM transitioned to single-stream recycling in 2008.

As Miami-Dade has grown, so have our efforts to divert waste towards beneficial reuse. Miami-Dade County began accepting waste streams like appliances, electronic waste, old tires, used oil, used chemicals, and yard waste to strengthen its waste diversion efforts. In 2014, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) built on the success of the County’s waste diversion efforts by recommending additional steps to be taken as part of the DSWM’s Solid Waste Master Plan. Recommendations included encouraging home composting of organic waste materials, providing more residential enforcement of solid waste rules, and expanding recyclables accepted by the curbside recycling program. DSWM built on these recommendations by starting a Home Composting Program, enforcing recycling contamination through an outreach and education campaign, and adding additional recyclables to the curbside recycling program.
Recycling and composting
As Miami-Dade County continues to work toward our Zero Waste goals, DSWM is identifying areas of opportunity to build on our existing programs. For example, DSWM provides residential recycling to over 350,000 households. DSWM has implemented an education and engagement campaign for recycling contamination; Code Enforcement is checking an average of 1,000 households per month for recycling contamination and providing feedback to our residents to make sure the recycling stream is clean. Solid Waste is also working with its recycling processor to expand what materials can be recycled—most recently, yogurt cups, butter tubs, and slightly-soiled pizza boxes have been added to what can be recycled in Miami-Dade County.

DSWM is also expanding its Home Composting Program and educating residents all across the County on how they can reduce food waste going to landfill. After attending a workshop, residents are then provided with a free composting bin. Miami-Dade County has made progress in organic waste diversion; some yard waste is being processed into mulch for beneficial use.

In addition, DSWM continues to expand its used oil program at the Trash and Recycling Centers, e-waste has also been expanded at the Home Chemical Collection Centers. DSWM also provides a Chem Again reuse program where residents can reuse usable household chemicals, as well as a major appliance recycling program. DSWM will continue collaborating with other County Departments to determine a path towards larger-scale composting operations to help with waste diversion efforts.
A future-ready Miami-Dade
Ensuring our community is future-ready is a top priority for Mayor Levine Cava, and under her administration County departments have made significant strides to incorporate resilience into their planning and staffing. In 2024, DSWM hired a Chief of Resilience to identify ways the Department can prioritize resiliency and sustainability. The Chief of Resilience is responsible for identifying potential waste diversion efforts and for the County's development of a Zero Waste Master Plan.
Sustainable Solid Waste Campus
The design of a Sustainable Solid Waste Campus and development of a Zero Waste Master Plan are two critical steps towards minimizing the County's reliance on landfills and to maximize beneficial use of our waste stream. The proposed Sustainable Solid Waste Campus includes sufficient space to build out not just waste-to-energy but also waste diversion facilities – to include technology such as organics processing, sorting and recycling systems, biogas harvesting and repurposing initiatives, to continue to reduce our overall waste footprint as we push toward a zero-waste future.

Project and Process

Timeline

The timeline for establishing the new waste-to-energy facility ranges from seven to 10 years, contingent upon the chosen site.

Proposed locations

Airport West is the site currently recommended by the Miami-Dade County administration.

FAQs

Implementing waste-to-energy will allow us to meet our waste management and disposal needs sustainably and efficiently in the short to medium term as we work on our goal of becoming a Zero Waste County. This proven technology has successfully handled large volumes of waste around the globe. With landfills reaching capacity and limited options for new disposal sites, transporting waste over long distances is neither sustainable nor cost-effective. Waste-to-energy offers a viable solution to these pressing challenges.
There is no example of a sizeable community in the United States that has achieved zero waste. California, which is the state that has taken some of the most proactive measures nationwide, continues to landfill.

Miami-Dade County is just beginning to embark on its zero-waste journey. This initiative is expected to take decades of behavioral changes, policy changes, and a collaborative effort across stakeholders to accomplish this goal. In the meantime, we must continue to lean on other solutions to ensure we can meet our waste disposal needs. As a county that generates waste at twice the national average, we need to use the best technology available to meet our future needs.

The County is continuously working to implement waste reduction and circularity measures into its operations, and it will expand upon these efforts through the Zero Waste Master Plan. Some of the County’s existing waste diversion programs include prohibiting polystyrene in County Parks, buying recycled content products, recycling education campaigns, chemical reuse through the County’s Chem-Again Program, mulching green yard waste, and recycling across the County.
Currently, there are 75 facilities in the United States that recover energy from the combustion of municipal solid waste. These facilities exist in 25 states, mainly in the Northeast.

Florida processes more solid waste through waste-to-energy plants in the country than any other state. Our state has plants in Miami-Dade (our current facility is closed as the new one is being planned), Palm Beach, Broward, Hillsborough, Lee, Pinellas and Pasco counties and the City of Tampa.
Currently around 15% of the of global waste collected is processed in waste-to-energy plants, most of which are located in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Worldwide there are currently 2,700 waste-to-energy plants. Europe has 400 plants, while the United States has 75; ten of those are in Florida.

The newest waste-to-energy plant will be in Warsaw, Poland which is expected to begin operations in 2024. In the United States, the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority (SWA) began commercial operations in 2015. It was the first greenfield waste-to-energy facility to come online in North America in 20 years. In 2023, Pasco County awarded a contract to Reworld, formerly Covanta, to expand their waste-to-energy facility from 1,050 tons per day to 1,565 tons per day. This expansion will be the first of its kind since the SWA project in 2015.
The County ordered a preliminary air modeling and human health risk assessment of the existing waste-to-energy site, Medley site, and the Airport West site.

There were two key findings documented in a report presented to the Board of County Commissioners:

(1) With respect to human health, all three sites studied have low risk with results within or below the regulatory established risk levels. According to the report, the worst-case health risk level at all three sites is below the risk posed by simply walking down the street and breathing air that includes car exhaust.

(2) From an ecological perspective, the report found that “the potential ecological risks associated with air emissions at the three proposed locations are minimal and should not have an impact on the surrounding ecological communities.”

These findings did not consider the stricter standards that the EPA has proposed for new waste-to-energy facilities, which are projected to produce even better results. According to the report, although air emissions and human health impacts were not evaluated for the Okeechobee Site, we do not anticipate significant variations from the results for the Airport West site which is approximately .25 miles south of the Airport West Site.

Additionally, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) determined that electricity generated from waste-to-energy facilities emit less pounds of carbon dioxide per unit of energy than other energy sources like natural gas. (Source: EIA)
In Miami-Dade County, the safety and regulation of waste-to-energy facilities are overseen by several agencies.
- The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is responsible for enforcing environmental regulations and permitting waste-to-energy operations.
- DSWM manages waste disposal and recycling efforts, ensuring compliance with local standards.
- The U.S. EPA also plays a role by setting national standards for emissions and waste management practices.
Together, these agencies ensure that waste-to-energy facilities operate safely and meet regulatory requirements.

How will emissions from the waste-to-energy facility compare to those from historic waste combustion facilities?

Modern waste-to-energy facilities produce significantly fewer emissions compared to historic waste combustion practices, thanks to innovations in technology and important updates to regulations.

The County’s consultant is designing the waste-to-energy Plant to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed revision to the standards of performance for new stationary sources (new source performance standards, or NSPS) and emission guidelines (EG) for existing sources for large municipal waste combustors (MWCs). 89 FR 4243.

These are regulations that will be promulgated pursuant to the Clean Air Act.

EPA’s Regulated Air Pollutant	EPA Limits for RRF (ug/dscm)	Current NSPS Limit (Applies to WTE facilities built after 1994)	Proposed NSPS Limits (Applies to any new WTE facility)
Cadmium	35	71% Reduction	97% Reduction
Lead	400	65% Reduction	97% Reduction
Particulate Matter	25¹	20% Reduction	80% Reduction
Mercury	50	0% Reduction	88% Reduction
Dioxin/Furans	30²	57% Reduction	94% Reduction
Hydrochloric Acid	29³	14% Reduction	73% Reduction
Sulfur Dioxide	29³	3% Increase	52% Reduction
Nitrogen Oxides	250³	40% Reduction	80% Reduction
Carbon Monoxide	100³	0% Reduction	84% Reduction

¹unit of measurement is mg/dscm

²unit of measurement is ng/dscm

³unit of measurement is ppmdv

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies emissions either as point source or non-point source emissions. Point source emissions are emissions that can be attributed to a specific location or facility while non-point source emissions originate from varying diffuse sources.

The EPA’s National Emissions Inventory (NEI) tracks both point source and non-point source mercury emissions throughout the country. In the state of Florida, cremation is the number one source of non-point source mercury emissions: waste-to-energy accounts for 13% of non-point source mercury emissions. Industry-related activities (gypsum manufacturing, cement manufacturing, and steel manufacturing) are the largest emitters of point source mercury emissions while waste-to-energy accounts for 15% of point source mercury emissions.

The County is designing the waste-to-energy facility to the EPA’s proposed MACT standards, which will result in 88% fewer mercury emissions than plants built to current standards.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) tracks the emission intensity of varying sources of electricity generation. The EIA states that electricity generated from waste-to-energy facilities emit 91.90 pounds of carbon dioxide per million British thermal unit (BTU). Comparatively, coal emits 211.06 pounds of carbon dioxide per million BTUs, natural gas emits 116.65 pounds of carbon dioxide per million BTU, and gasoline emits 155.77 pounds of carbon dioxide per million BTU. (Source: EIA)
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—commonly known as ‘forever chemicals’— have been used in the manufacturing processes of a variety of different materials since the 1940s. PFAS do not naturally breakdown in the environment and the conditions in which they are neutralized is still being researched by the EPA and other federal and international agencies. Due to the lack of regulation surrounding PFAS, it is found anywhere from wastewater treatment plants to landfills. PFAS have also been identified in waterways and soils around the globe. Although research is limited, the EPA has indicated that the temperatures and the amount of time waste is exposed to heat within a waste-to-energy facility may be sufficient in neutralizing certain PFAS compounds.