Take a behind-the-scenes virtual tour of how garbage turns into electricity
Ever wonder what happens to garbage after it leaves the curb? Hillsborough County residents can now find out without leaving home.
A new interactive virtual tour of the County's waste-to-energy (WTE) facility is now available. This immersive experience offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Hillsborough County reduces the volume of garbage by up to 90%, helping to preserve valuable landfill space, the primary benefit of the County's WTE facility.
The County follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Waste Management Hierarchy, which prioritizes WTE over landfilling. When garbage is safely burned, its volume is significantly reduced. Metals are recovered and recycled, and the remaining ash is landfilled at the Southeast County Landfill.
The facility burns up to 1,800 tons of residential and commercial garbage per day, reducing the amount of material that is landfilled by 90%. The heat generated from this process is then converted into enough electricity to power up to 35,000 homes a day.
Through the virtual tour, residents can explore key areas of the facility, including the tipping floor, boiler, control room, ash and metals recovery, power station, and more.
The WTE facility also plays a key role in recycling recovery. Each year, approximately 19,600 tons of metal are recovered from the ash, enough to build about 15,000 cars, materials that would otherwise be lost in a landfill.
This tool is designed to increase public awareness about solid waste management and the County's commitment to sustainability. It also highlights the importance of extending the life of the County's only landfill through innovative solutions like WTE.
Take the tour today, visit the waste-to-energy facility virtual experience on HCFL.gov.