In Palm Beach County, we are unique in that we have two waste-to-energy facilities. We actually take your trash, combust it, and turn it into electricity! Yes, that’s right – some of the lights at your school or at home could be powered by garbage! The first waste-to-energy facility was built in 1989 and then renovated in 2000. It combusts 800,000 tons of post-recycled municipal solid waste each year. In July 2015, Renewable Energy Facility 2 began commercial operation. It can combust 1 million tons of post-recycled municipal solid waste each year. Renewable Energy Facility 2 is still the cleanest and greenest waste to energy power plant in the nation. With these two facilities, we produce enough electricity to power the eight buildings on our Renewable Energy Park footprint as well as about 74,000 homes - that is about the number of homes in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens combined.
