Resources, Energy, Future, Accountability
The World According to REFA
Once upon a time waste was just something you had to get rid of in landfills or incinerators. Today, waste is increasingly a resource that must be utilized for direct recycling or reuse of materials whenever possible. Only when recycling is not feasible or economically viable, is the waste recovered for energy production. The amount of waste going to landfills is now close to 5 percent. With efficient recycling centers and a rapidly increasing recycling rate REFA is an active part of the resource conscious development in waste management. In the future there will be less and less waste for incineration and more and more waste for reuse and recycling. REFA takes good care of citizens’ waste. REFA has made it easy to throw away garbage the right way, and citizens can with a clear conscience leave their waste to REFA. But REFA is more than a waste management company. For many years, REFA has also aimed at becoming an energy company, where the heat and power from waste incineration is supplemented with CO2-neutral energy production based on biomass. The visions in the energy field are closely linked to REFA’s strategy. The starting point is Lolland-Falster desire to be master in its own house and provide the citizens with good, cheap and effective solutions. This applies both to domestic waste, recycling centers and district heating. REFA must have a size and robustness, which will ensure that REFA remains an independent company that is managed from and working for Lolland-Falster. This is certainly not a matter of course. We are convinced that this strategy is for the benefit of our owners - the citizens of Lolland-Falster. REFA is in other words a locally established company. But REFA is also aware of globalization, with all that this implies. This means that REFA’s solutions at any time must be competitive on price and quality. It also means that all we do is performed in dialogue with the surrounding world and with respect for people and environment.
I/S REFA
REFA ENERGI A/S oWNERSHIP 100%
REFA KETTINGE FoRSYNING A/S oWNERSHIP 100%
REFA HoRBELEV FJERNVARME A/S oWNERSHIP 100%
REFA STuBBEKØBING FJERNVARME A/S oWNERSHIP 100%
REFA is an expert in waste management and energy production
WASTE
ENERGY
Resources
Waste Treatment with Certificate
REFA is a certified company looking out for people,the environment and opportunities. We want to be recognised as a fair, reliable and honest organisation, transparent in all our dealings - whether the focus is on economy, environment or working environment. For many years, REFA has had a management system that is certified according to the international standards ISO 14001 for environment and OHSAS 18001 for working environment. Every year, the management system is thoroughly examined and verified by an independent certification agency. Through carefully planned and well-described procedures, the system is a useful tool for employees in daily life. In a company operating activities at 30 different addresses, management systems can greatly contribute to ensuring a joint way of working. In short: REFA takes pride in quality - for the benefit of customers, citizens, environment and employees.
Quality management for the benefit of customers, citizens, environment and employees
Energy Produced from Waste
Biogas produced of organic waste from domestic waste is a part of the future energy supply. In a world lacking resources and with high energy prices, waste incineration has for many years been a good and important contribution to the energy supply in Denmark. And we are not talking small stuff. At the CHP in Nykøbing F. one ton of waste is turned into as much energy as 225 liters of heating oil. By burning more than 100.000 tons of waste per year, REFA’s incineration has for nearly 30 years saved the community and the environment of large amounts of fossil fuel. The waste incineration has always been efficient and environmentally secure. The vast majority of energy is CO2 neutral. Only the contents of plastics and other petroleum-based products in the waste deduct in the CO2 accounts. Each year REFA’s waste incineration plant saves the atmosphere 50.000 tons of CO2 compared to an equivalent energy production based on oil. Effective smoke purification captures the environmental contaminants from the waste incineration. Even the potentially dangerous dioxin is today reduced to nothing. During an entire year the 29 Danish waste incineration plants emit less than 1 gram of dioxin together! Today wood burning stoves in private households are the largest source of dioxin in Denmark. Energy will also be produced from waste in the future. In the coming years new methods which not only exploit the content of energy will be developed. We must ensure that even phosphorus, rare metals and other resources in the waste will be recycled. Already now one can produce biogas of the organic fraction of household waste. As the development of new technologies and changing regulatory requirements, biogas from the refuse collection will become a growing part of the energy production. This is also why REFA has undertaken the task of operating a biogas plant in Kettinge on Lolland. Biogas produced from organic waste from the refuse collection is a part of the energy supply of the future.
Biogas produced from organic waste from the refuse collection is a part of the energy supply of the future
CHP Plant using Waste as Fuel Since 1983 the power plant in Nykøbing has dealt with municipal waste and other combustible waste. In this way, the vast majority of district heating consumption in Nykøbing Falster has been covered. In 1999, the plant’s two original incinerators were supplemented by a third incinerator that not only produces district heating, but also generates electricity. The energy production is large enough to supply 10.000 households with district heating and electricity. The district heating is delivered to Guldborgsund Forsyning. The production of electricity is sent out to the grid and sold on the free electricity market. The Production is highly effective. Following a special EU measure the power plant in Nykøbing Falster has a rating for the sale of energy of 1.0. It is by far better than the 0.60, which is the EU’s limit of a so-called recovery facility. CHP is the heart of REFA’s energy production. This is also where REFA’s 24/7 control room is located. From here, all REFA’s plants are monitored, controlled and regulated. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round.
Facts Incineration Capacity Electrical capacity Heating capacity Treated waste Produced electricity Produced district heating Inauguration of incinerator 1 and 2 in Upgraded in Expansion of incinerator 3 in
18 tons of waste per hour 6.7 MW per hour 38 MW per hour 110.000 tons per year 50.000 MWh 190.000 MWh 1983 2000/2006/2010/2011 1999
REFA Kettinge Forsyning At the turn of 2011/2012 REFA Kettinge Forsyning ApS assumed operation of the biogas plant in Kettinge on Lolland. REFA has extensive experience in the operation of complex power plants and has many contacts in the world of waste. In this light REFA has committed itself to optimizing the operation, securing the supply and production to customers, and making the plant profitable. The plant produces biogas from slurry from the local pig and cattle livestock supplemented by organic material such as fat. When slurry and organic material are mixed in the right way, biogas is developed by a sensitive bacterial process. Approximately 2/3 of the biogas is the flammable gas methane. The gas operates two engines that produce electricity to the grid and district heating to the 164 connected households in Kettinge. The decontaminated biomass is suitable as fertilizer in the agricultural cultivation of crop. REFA’s commitment to biogas does not only apply to operating the plant in Kettinge, but is also a preparation for future waste treatment, where the organic fraction of refuse collection can be utilized for production of biogas as an alternative to the current waste incineration in the power plant in Nykøbing F.
Facts Treatment capacity Electrical capacity Heating capacity Treated slurry Processed organic material Produced biogas Produced electricity Produced district heating Inaugurated Rented by REFA
240 m3 per day 1, 5 MW 4.7 MW 60.000 tons per year 20.000 tons per year 4.5 million m3 per year 7.500 MWh per year 8.500 MWh per year 1997 2012
Energy Produced from Biomass
REFA has both a highly efficient organization and a considerable knowledge when it comes to energy production and efficient operation of complex power plants. It is a core competence that REFA’s Management Board has wanted to take advantage of for more than waste incineration. Since 2006, REFA has not only been a waste company with treatment of waste as a core business, but also an energy company focused on production of district heating based on biomass. The biomass is wood chips or straw - both CO2-neutral fuels. The focus on biomass started with the establishment of Nykøbing F. Biomass Plant that for reasons of supply security and the continued expansion of district heating in Nykøbing Falster was built to complement REFA’s waste burning power plant in the city. Since then, REFA has assumed ownership or operational responsibility for biomass plants in four places on Lolland-Falster: Stubbekøbing, Holeby, Horbelev and Maribo-Sakskøbing. In particular, the acquisition of the former DONG-owned plant Maribo-Sakskøbing Kraftvarmeværk has given
REFA’s role as an energy company certain weight. Due to this, all energy activities based on biomass are now gathered in the subsidiary REFA Energy A/S. The company is owned 100 percent by the parent company I/S REFA, which in turn is owned by the municipalities of Lolland-Falster: Guldborgsund and Lolland. REFA Energy A/S is an essential part of REFA’s development strategy. The company is ready to develop district heating based on CO2-neutral energy sources anywhere on Lolland-Falster. It can be achieved by establishing new supply areas, by entering into operational cooperation with existing plants or by entering into ownership of such plants. All REFA’s energy companies of course present individual financial statements, so financially waterproof bulkheads are secured between the companies. This also applies to the parent companies I/S REFA and REFA Energi A/S.
REFA Maribo-Sakskøbing Kraftvarmeværk On the 1st of January 2012 Maribo-Sakskøbing Kraftvarmeværk plant got a new owner. The plant is located in the outskirts of Sakskøbing and produces energy based on straw, a CO2-neutral fuel. The straw is supplied by approx. 250 farmers from Lolland-Falster and Southern Zealand, which together deliver more than 100.000 big bales to the power plant. The large quantities of straw are purchased in tenders. The energy production covers approximately 13.000 households’ electricity consumption and 90 percent of the district heating needs in Maribo and Sakskøbing. REFA Energi A/S has purchased the plant from DONG Energy, which no longer wishes to operate decentralized CHP plants. The plant fits well into REFA’s business strategy and the desire to become a major energy company on Lolland-Falster. The district heating is sold to the two district heating companies Maribo Varmeværk A.m.b.a. and Sakskøbing Fjernvarmeselskab A.m.b.a.
Facts Fuel Straw Incineration Capacity 8 tons per hour Electrical capacity 11.8 MW per hour Heating Capacity 22.5 MW per hour Fuel Consumption 52.000 tons per year Produced electricity 60.000 MWh per year Produced district heating 120.000 MWh per year Inaugurated 1999 Acquired by REFA 2012
Straw REFA Horbelev Fjernvarme A/S The district heating plant in Horbelev is a village CHP that was built with EU funding in 1986. The plant produces CO2 neutral district heating based on straw. With just over 200 connected consumers the plant’s economy has always been strained. In 2010 REFA was asked to help with operation and administration. A year later REFA Energi A / S bought the plant. Since the acquisition on the 1st of June 2011, REFA has worked consistently on optimizing both the operation and the economy to make district heating even more attractive in Horbelev. The district heating in Horbelev is not the cheapest on Lolland-Falster, but the fact is that even small heating plants can provide cheaper heating to ordinary households, compared to heating based on electricity or oil.
Facts Fuel Straw Incineration capacity 1 ton per hour Heating capacity 1.6 MW per hour Fuel consumption 2.000 ton per year Produced district heating 6.000 MWh Connected households 202 Inaugurated in 1986 Acquired by REFA 2011
Holeby Halmvarmeværk REFA has for several years been responsible for the operation of the farmer-owned Holeby Halmvarmeværk and since October 2010 also Holeby Fjernvarme A.m.b.a. Holeby Halmvarmeværk supplies heating to 680 consumers connected to Holeby Fjernvarme.
Facts Fuel Straw Incineration Capacity 3 ton per hour Heating capacity 6.5 MW per hour Fuel consumption 6.000 ton per year Produced district heating 23.000 MWh Connected households 690 Operation acquired by REFA 2007
Wood Chips REFA Stubbekøbing Fjernvarme A/S The plant was built by Stubbekøbing Fjernvarmeselskab A.m.b.a. in a joint project with REFA and is almost an exact replica of the biomass plant in Nykøbing Falster. In both cases, the energy source is CO2-neutral wood chips. Already during the construction of the new plant REFA assumed operation of the old worn out plant. Later REFA Stubbekøbing Fjernvarme A/S acquired ownership of the new district heating plant and grid in Stubbekøbing and Ore. After several successful connection campaigns the number of connected consumers have increased with almost 20 percent, thus creating a better economy for both existing and new consumers. REFA Stubbekøbing Fjernvarme A/S is owned by REFA Energi A/S Facts Fuel Wood chips Incineration Capacity 3 ton per hour Heating capacity 6.5 MW per hour Fuel consumption 9.000 ton per year Produced district heating 25.000 MWh Connected households 744 Inaugurated, orig. installations 1960 Current installations opened 2008 Acquired by REFA 2008 Nykøbing F. Biomasseværk It is required that at least 90 percent of the energy for district heating in Nykøbing Falster must come from waste, biomass and industrial excess heat After several extensions of the district heating grid in Nykøbing and surroundings the heat demand had gradually become so large that REFA’s waste fired power plant could not keep up. In agreement with Guldborgsund Municipality REFA built a peak load plant, Nykøbing F. Biomasseværk. The plant is built to complement the CHP plant on Energivej in Nykøbing F. during the coldest 4-5 months of the year. The production of district heating is supplied to Guldborgsund Forsyning which distributes the heat to the customers in Nykøbing Falster and surroundings. Facts Fuel Wood chips Incineration capacity 5 tons per hour Heating capacity 10 MW per hour Fuel Consumption 12.000 ton per year Produced district heating 37.000 MWh/year Inaugurated 2007
Waste Collection REFA is responsible for the collection of waste in Guldborgsund and Lolland Municipalities. The collection is not for the municipalities, but on behalf of the two municipalities. REFA is a joint municipal corporation and is in legal and administrative context, called a special municipality. The waste collection includes refuse collection from households and holiday homes and disposal from businesses. In addition, cardboard, paper and small batteries from households is collected for recycling. Recyclable commercial waste is not a municipal responsibility, and therefore not part of REFA’s waste collection. In addition to the collection schemes REFA has all over Lolland-Falster placed specific recycle cubes for collecting glass, plastic bottles, metal cans and other beverage casks. In several places this is supplemented with recycle cubes for paper and cardboard. It must be easy to get rid of waste. REFA emphasizes that the collection schemes are simple, practical and user friendly. Therefore REFA has developed collection schemes with many individual choices. REFA provides waste containers in various sizes. Combined with the option of choosing between weekly discharge and 14-days discharge it creates great flexibility and 12 individual options for customer. REFA’s collection schemes are regulated by national legislation for the customer and the waste disposal regulations that apply to the municipalities of Lolland-Falster. Facts Pick-up places households: Pick-up places holiday homes: Pick-up places businesses: Annual number of pickups: Refuse collection household + Business: Cardboard and paper: Bottles and glass: Metal cans and plastic bottles: Batteries:
55.000 11.000 6.000 2.375.000 43.000 tons per year 6.500 tons per year 1.700 tons per year 40 tons per year 27 tons per year
Recycling Stations REFA’s recycling stations are popular. Each year the recycling stations receive almost 900.000 visits. This equals more than eight annual visits per citizen from babies to seniors. The Recycling Stations have good access. With an even geographical spread, more than 90 percent of the area’s citizens have less than 10 km to the nearest recycling station. Most recycling stations are designed according to the user friendly REFA-model where the recycling station´s many containers are placed around a circular platform. Traffic on the platform is one-way. The design makes it easy to get rid of the sorted waste. People do not struggle with high containers and heavy lifting, but can load the waste directly from the platform and down into the containers. The recycling stations are similar and easy to use. More and more employees have passed an environmental advisor training to provide individuals and private companies with a good and qualified service. The recycling stations live up to their names.
The vast majority of the waste is recycled or recovered. Less than 5 percent of the waste is deposited. In recent years, businesses have also gained access to the recycling stations in addition to REFA’s environmental centers and power plant in Nykøbing F. that also receives commercial waste. The access is determined by the Parliament and has been a subject of both debate and changes. From 2012 REFA has chosen a simple and transparent voucher system that is easy and inexpensive to administer. Businesses have acknowledged this by frequent use of the vouchers. It is prohibited to sell and buy stuff at REFA’s recycling stations, but in most stations a ”secondhand container” is found, where citizens can leave the discarded items that they believe others may enjoy. Facts Collected amounts: Recycling: Re-utilized: Deposit: Hazardous waste:
68.000 tons 79.5% 15.4% 4.6% 0.5%
Landfilling, Sorting and Composting
There are no landfills on Lolland-Falster. REFA operates two environmental centers, Miljøcenter Hasselø and Miljøcenter Gerringe. The Environmental Centers have set new standards for waste treatment. Denmark has the world’s lowest deposit rate and it continues to decrease as we get better and better at recycling or recovering our waste. In earlier days the landfill was the final destination. Today, the environmental centers deal with sorting of mixed waste from industry and construction. Increasingly, the centers function as intermediate depots for the waste bound for recycling or recovering. This includes for example soil that may be contaminated. The soil is placed in holding position while it is being analyzed and it is decided where to take it afterwards. Every summer large quantities of waste wood and other types of small combustible waste are placed in the depot at the environmental centers, from where it can be taken to power plants when the heating season starts and district heating can be marketed. Where landfills in the past were growing quickly, today it moves in the opposite direction: Environmental centers have the capacity of many decades of waste treatment and final disposal. REFA’s environmental centers are basically the same, but at some points different. Only at Miljøcenter Hasselø it is possible to deposit mineral waste such as asbestos and insulation. At the Miljøcenter Hasselø there is also a composting facility for garden refuse. At the Miljøcenter Gerringe REFA has in turn established a bio composting facility that treats sewage sludge. Here, sludge from municipal purification plants, branch refuse and straw become good and nutritious compost that can be used as soil conditioner in agriculture. Before the sludge is received at the plant, it will be checked for heavy metals and other environmental contaminants.
Facts Combustible waste deposited Recycled waste Mixed waste sorted Final deposited waste Composted sewage sludge Composted branch waste Recycled clean wood Recycled rubble
15.000 tons per year 20 tons per year 3.500 tons per year 15.000 tons per year 6.500 tons per year 16.000 tons per year 5.000 tons per year 6.000 tons per year
REFA in Dialogue REFA is owned by the citizens of Lolland-Falster. The Board is appointed from the city council members in Guldborgsund Municipality and Lolland Municipality. We are part of democracy. Therefore REFA aims at both openness and dialogue with citizens, users, customers and owners. REFA participates in dialogue and networking meetings throughout the region, and is happy to receive visits to the plants, facilities and recycling stations. Most people are most comfortable with waste when hey cannot see or smell it. REFA responds to this with a professional and efficient waste management system, but we cannot completely hide waste. If we are to continue the positive development where waste becomes a resource and where more and more waste is recycled, there is a need to focus on what one moment is just waste and the next moment is turned into energy and resources. Therefore REFA also works with the dissemination of knowledge about waste, either when people come to us or when REFA’s school service moves out to pupils throughout the region. REFA is a part of society; an active part. Therefore REFA supports community activities, such as rubbish clean up days. We would like to be visible in the contexts in which we, in addition to supporting a cultural activity, can spread the important and necessary information about waste and energy. REFA frequently provides jobs for people who are serving a sentence with the condition of community service. We also offer employment to people who have difficulty gaining a foothold in the normal labor market. In this way REFA also assumes a social responsibility. REFA is for the citizens of Lolland-Falster.
Power Plants, Biomass Plants, Environmental centers, Recycling Stations and other Activities MAP oF LoLLAND-FALSTER
Nakskov
Rødby
WASTE-To-ENERGY PLANT
REFA STuBBEKØBING FJERNVARME A/S
REFA KETTINGE FoRSYNING APS
BIoMASS PLANT
RELoADING STATIoN
HoLEBY HALMVARMEVÆRK
MILJØcENTER HASSELØ
coNTAINER SITES
REcYcLING STATIoNS
MILJØcENTER GERRINGE
REFA HoRBELEV FJERNVARME A/S
BIo coMPoSTING FAcILITY
MARIBo-SAKSKØBING KRAFTVARMEVÆRK
Nørre Alslev Stubbekøbing
Sakskøbing
Maribo
Nykøbing F.
This publication is printed on REFA’s environmentally friendly recycled paper, Cocoon. The paper is certified in accordance with the best environmental standards: FSC Ecolabel and NAPM Recycled.
Editorial Executive Vice President Søren Møller-Madsen, Communication Officer Kenneth Prehn / Photo Kim Pajor, Kenneth Prehn / Print Grafikom / Design PAJOR Advertising Agency
Resources
Energivej 4 4800 Nykøbing F. Telefon 54 84 14 00 Telefax 54 84 14 14 post@refa.dk
www.refa.dk
Energy
Future
Accountability