Windstar Minnesota Connection members toured an NRG RFD Plant and learned about Refuse-Derived Fuel.  The waste recovery process is relatively straight forward: Waste materials are brought to facilities where they are processed and packed for shipment to power plants. Recyclable materials, such as ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, soil and glass are recovered and recycled before being sold to local businesses. The remaining combustible materials, or RDF, are used as fuel to fire boilers that generate steam to produce electricity. The RDF resource recovery method is an environmentally superior method of waste management when compared to creating new or adding to existing landfill sites.  Refuse-Derived Fuels can be used for:

• Heating and air conditioning in public facilities

• Heat source for hot tubs and swimming pools

• Road heating (snow melting)

• Power generation

• Use in combination with fossil fuels

• Industrial uses (cleaning, cement firing)