By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Over the past couple years, the City of Great Bend has been looking for a suitor to lease ground at the industrial complex at the airport. The roughly nine acres of land is just north of 6th Street.
The Great Bend City Council approved a lease with Global Green (GGI) to operate a waste management company that converts waste into fuel and energy. Gary Senft, with Viking North Environmental Tech, the marketing agent for GGI, said through the pyrolysis technology there is a thermal breakdown of waste materials under intense heat without oxygen, being environmentally responsible.
"We put nothing outside of the plant," said Senft. "The floor inside the plant is sloped in such a way that there is a catch basin. Any of the fluids created by the breakdown of solid waste is trapped. That is cleaned and processed so we do not have anything going into the groundwater."
Global Green has the capability to process the vast majority of industrial, commercial and municipal waste including medical, tires, plastic, biodegradable materials and household waste. The heat from the pyrolysis process is used to power turbines to generate electricity.
Councilmember Alan Moeder said the business idea seemed better than the landfill concept.
"I'm a lot more comfortable with this plant than what's going on at the landfill," said Moeder. "The landfill has a rubber liner. If that rubber liner goes bad, we're going to contaminate a lot of things. This plant has potential to eliminate a lot of waste in this area."
Global Green is estimating a potential investment in Great Bend of $45 million with the facility. GGI will pay Great Bend $3,375 per month during the 20-year lease. The company is preparing to have all of their permitting and licensing complete in four to six months.
Listen below to the discussion on the new waste management plant at Monday's Great Bend City Council meeting.