The aging incinerator that burned down last year in Doral processed half of Miami-Dade’s trash, forcing the county to ship the garbage some 100 miles north.
If all goes to plan, it could be replaced by what is billed as the largest waste-to-energy facility ever built in the United States. The controversial question about where it will go, however, remains undecided.
AtkinsRéalis, the county’s consulting firm for the project, on Tuesday unveiled preliminary designs for a facility that would handle 50 percent more waste than the one burned beyond repair in February 2023. That older generation waste-to-energy operation burned nearly 100 million tons of trash a year but also drew constant complaints from neighbors about foul smells.
The new one, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, would potentially be capable of turning 4,000 tons a day of trash into electricity and alternative fuels. There also is potential for the county to add carbon capture technology to make it a “net zero” facility, reducing emissions that fuel climate change, the consulting firm said.