Articles Authors About RWE OWI Platform

Optimal Waste Intelligence · Archive

Older Articles - Page 2

Previously published OWI analysis. Use the navigation below to move between pages.

Modular Waste Processing Sells a Schedule the Grid Won't Honor
8 min read

Modular Waste Processing Sells a Schedule the Grid Won't Honor

Modular waste processing erects in four months, then waits years on an interconnection queue. Why the second module never lands, and what to sell instead.

Read article →
99.99 Percent Destruction Is the Easy Part of Hazardous Waste Treatment
9 min read

99.99 Percent Destruction Is the Easy Part of Hazardous Waste Treatment

EPA's June 2026 rule adds hydrogen fluoride and cyanide limits to hazardous waste treatment permits. The kiln will hit its numbers. The monitoring plan won't.

Read article →
Is Pyrolysis an Incinerator? EPA Buried the Question in an Air Curtain Rule.
9 min read

Is Pyrolysis an Incinerator? EPA Buried the Question in an Air Curtain Rule.

EPA still hasn't settled the pyrolysis incinerator classification question, and the 10 TPD CEMS trigger decides your permit path before Section 129 ever does.

Read article →
PFAS Superfund Liability Is Landing: What the 400 to 800 Percent Leachate Cost Jump Means for Thermal Destruction
7 min read

PFAS Superfund Liability Is Landing: What the 400 to 800 Percent Leachate Cost Jump Means for Thermal Destruction

EPA's PFOA and PFOS Superfund listing is repricing landfill leachate by 400 to 800 percent. Who pays, who profits, and why thermal destruction wins.

Read article →
Generative AI Runs Your Waste Plant's Paperwork, Not Its Set Points
8 min read

Generative AI Runs Your Waste Plant's Paperwork, Not Its Set Points

Generative AI copilots help most in a waste plant's back office, not on the line. An engineer on where LLMs pay off, where they hallucinate, and why.

Read article →
The Fischer-Tropsch Reactor Isn't the Hard Part of Waste-to-SAF. The Cleanup Train Is.
8 min read

The Fischer-Tropsch Reactor Isn't the Hard Part of Waste-to-SAF. The Cleanup Train Is.

Waste to sustainable aviation fuel sounds simple: gasify trash, run Fischer-Tropsch, get jet fuel. The syngas cleanup train is where the plants keep dying.

Read article →
Where California's Textile EPR Sends the Clothes Nobody Can Recycle
7 min read

Where California's Textile EPR Sends the Clothes Nobody Can Recycle

California textile EPR hit its July 2026 registration deadline, but nothing's collected until 2031 and the blended, PFAS-laden residual has no recycler.

Read article →
11 to 179 Cents a Pound: Why 2026 Packaging EPR Fees Track Format, Not Weight
8 min read

11 to 179 Cents a Pound: Why 2026 Packaging EPR Fees Track Format, Not Weight

The 2026 packaging EPR fee schedule charges 11 to 179 cents a pound by format, not weight. How the invoice is computed, and why your reported data sets it.

Read article →
Do the 2026 Lithium Battery EPR Laws Land on You or the Producer?
7 min read

Do the 2026 Lithium Battery EPR Laws Land on You or the Producer?

NJ producer reporting opened Jan 8; California's SB 1215 fee started Jan 1. Which 2026 lithium battery EPR laws bind producers, and which hit waste handlers?

Read article →
In US Waste-to-Energy, the Kilowatt-Hour Is the Byproduct. The Gate Fee Is the Product.
5 min read

In US Waste-to-Energy, the Kilowatt-Hour Is the Byproduct. The Gate Fee Is the Product.

US waste-to-energy economics from the public EIA numbers: the gate fee is worth several times the power per ton. Underwrite the tipping fee.

Read article →
Landfill Mining Pays for the Airspace, Not the Aluminum
8 min read

Landfill Mining Pays for the Airspace, Not the Aluminum

Landfill mining almost never pays for the recovered metal. It pays for reclaimed airspace, closure liability, or not at all - here's when the dig clears.

Read article →
Textile Waste to Energy: Why Old Clothes Resist the Reactor
7 min read

Textile Waste to Energy: Why Old Clothes Resist the Reactor

Textile waste to energy looks easy: clothing burns hotter than MSW. The energy was never the problem. The bale, the chlorine, and the broken sort are.

Read article →