Berryville Gets $746K Grant to Study Converting Waste to Fuel

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The U.S. Department of Energy has devoted a $745,932 grant to help the city of Berryville complete a sustainable molecular recycling facility.

The goal is to turn waste into fuels like renewable natural gas, methanol and hydrogen.

The grant will help the city use advanced recycling and fuel conversion technologies to overcome landfill constraints for municipal solid waste. SyntexNRG, a subsidiary of Syntex Industries, is partnering in the project.

Organic waste like food, wastewater sludge, solid waste and manure are a longstanding and costly problem for municipalities. They contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution, according to a city bulletin announcing the grant.

The project looks to the EcoVista Landfill in Tontitown as a model. That project uses processes of pelletization, pyrolysis and synthesis to convert waste into energy-efficient products, decreasing landfill use.

‘Reimagine Waste’

Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney called the grant an opportunity to “reimagine waste management” in northwest Arkansas. “Through Project SMRF and the expertise of Syntex and our other partners, we plan to develop a sustainable waste-to-energy model that benefits our community, reduces landfill dependence, and contributes to a cleaner environment,” McKinney said in a statement.

Tom Waggoner, managing director of SyntexNRG, said that the project differs from others that incinerate waste to generate electricity. It will instead convert “various waste streams into materials that can be recycled at the molecular level,” Waggoner said.

The Berryville project will assess infrastructure to improve the separation of municipal solid waste and processes of turning it into fuel.

According to Chris Claybaker, Berryville’s director of development, the project’s objectives are fourfold. It will reduce landfill pressure, produce renewable fuel for community vehicles and sale, establish a community environmental and education center, and leverage public-private partnerships.

Those partnerships will work to attract additional investment in waste-to-energy technologies.

Berryville is a federally designated Opportunity Zone and home to the Carroll County Solid Waste District. Syntex will join with other partners including the University of Arkansas, Enviroscapes Ecological Consulting, and Via Analytics. Together, they will study the feasibility of using community “virtual landfills” to convert waste into usable products.