Waste to Energy on Steroids: Design and Permitting of a New Mass-Burn Waste to Energy Project in Anchorage

The municipality of Anchorage Assembly in Alaska recently allocated capital funding from the solid waste and wastewater utility departments to advance the permitting and design of a mass-burn waste-to-energy (WTE) facility. This will be the first greenfield mass-burn WTE project in Alaska and the first in the United States in 20 years. The project will extend the landfill’s life by 100 years, produce 20–30 megawatts of power, diversify the power generation portfolio in Alaska, and offset the need for the import of liquid natural gas for heat and power production.

It will also treat wastewater biosolids and save a $150 million investment by the wastewater utility for solids handling. The facility will provide other tangible benefits for residents of Anchorage and the state of Alaska, including the treatment of PFAS/PFOA-containing materials and providing a regional solid waste disposal location in South Central Alaska.

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About the Speaker

Mark Spafford
Deputy Municipal Manager / Anchorage Hydropower Utility Director | Municipality of Anchorage

Mark Spafford holds Bachelor (2000) and Master (2002) of Science Degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Central Florida. He is a registered Professional Civil Engineer in the State of Alaska (2005). Mark has over 25 years of private and public agency experience with Orange County (Florida) Utilities, Geosyntec Consultants, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, City of St. Cloud (FL), Denali Commission, the Municipality of Anchorage (including Anchorage Water & Wastewater Utility and Solid Waste Services [SWS]), Tetra Tech, LLC and Jacobs. Mark thrives on challenges and not being bored and the more complicated an issue, situation or problem, the better. He is a senior engineering and operations leader offering a record of success leading organizations, creating strategies and visions, and developing customer-oriented solutions to complex environmental infrastructure challenges. Mark loves to leverage vision, innovation, creativity, technology and collaborative problem solving to consistently deliver practical solutions that meet or exceed targeted expectations and outcomes.

Mark was born in Florida, grew up and lives in Alaska and has two boys (Hendrix and Marley) a girlfriend (Larysa) and a doodle (Vinny) all of whom he enjoys spending time with. This is in addition to playing guitar, singing and making music with his band Spaffdaddy across the state of Alaska and the United States.