projects and services

montgomery county

The Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility began commercial operation in August 1995. The facility processes an average of 1,500 tons per day of solid waste, generating up to 55 megawatts of renewable energy, enough power for 40,000 homes. All waste is first delivered to the Shady Grove Transfer Station in Derwood, compacted into intermodal steel waste containers and then loaded onto railcars with gantry cranes. Each day CSX assembles the train and makes the 20-mile trip to the facility in Dickerson. There the containers are off-loaded and trucked from the on-site railyard to the facility’s enclosed refuse building. Residue that remains from the process is loaded into sealed containers and shipped by rail to a landfill located in Brunswick, Virginia. This unique rail system allows the County to virtually eliminate truck traffic associated with the facility on the rural roads leading to the facility.

Recycling Waste Into Energy

The resource recovery facility employs mass burn technology from Martin GmbH of Germany. Waste is combusted at furnace temperatures exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and is reduced to an inert ash residue that is approximately 10% of its original volume.

Non-recycled solid waste is converted into approximately 63 megawatts of electricity. Completely self-sufficient, the facility operates using approximately 7 megawatts of electricity and the remainder is provided to 40,000 homes and businesses.

Air from the combustion chamber is directed through technologically advanced air pollution control equipment, including dry flue gas scrubbers, nitrogen oxide and mercury control systems and fabric filter baghouses. Facility emissions are strictly regulated by state and federal agencies.

Partners In Solutions

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, Recycling and Resource Management Division provides local residents with environmentally sound integrated waste management. The resource recovery facility, a key component in the plan, provides energy recovery at predictable costs.

County officials recognize that no single method of waste management can effectively handle all the waste generated by area residents. Other elements of the County’s plan include waste reduction, a comprehensive recycling program, household hazardous waste collection, composting and minimal landfilling.

The Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility is operated by Covanta Montgomery, Inc. and is located 25 miles from our nation’s capital in Dickerson, Maryland.

For additional information, please contact the Authority at 410.333.2730 or email [email protected].

For a tour of the facility, please contact David Blackmore at 301.691.9004.

Visit the real time air emissions page for this facility.

Operations Overview

* Operations began at the RRF in August of 1995.
** Analysis based on average of 8,000 kwh per home.

Source:  Covanta Montgomery Operating Data