The Resources Recovery Facility is a waste-to-energy plant located in northwest Miami-Dade County operated by Covanta Energy Corporation.  This facility is a critical component of the County’s integrated disposal system. The RRF is supported by three County-owned and operated landfills and three solid waste transfer stations.

Waste delivered to the plant is processed in two separate operations. On the garbage side, aluminum and ferrous metals are recovered for recycling while remaining garbage is shredded to produce refuse derived fuel which is used to generate electricity. On the trash side, the material is sorted and shredded. Magnets separate recyclable ferrous materials.  High grade soil is removed through a series of trommels. The process produces a biomass fuel which is used on site to supplement the refuse-derived fuel. The remaining biomass fuel is sold to cogeneration facilities in Central Florida.¹

The ash product resulting from the waste-to-energy process is 10% of the original waste material delivered to the plant. This material is disposed at an ash monofill adjacent to the plant.

In 2004, Westhorp & Associates was contracted to design the closure of Cells 17 & 18 of the ash monofill in accordance with the rules of the Florida Administrative Code for permitting through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). This design included the installation of a PVC liner on the top of the landfill to prevent water intrusion while the side slopes were covered with 18 inches of compacted limerock to serve the same purpose. Protective sand along with topsoil and sod would protect the liner and side slopes from water erosion as well as give the landfill visual appeal. The stormwater control system included two inlets connected to 18-inch high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes running from the top of the landfill down to control structures, installed at  a reverse sloping bench located at the midway point of the slope. From this point, additional piping runs to the toe of the landfill where the pipes discharge into concrete energy dissipators before outfalling into a stormwater management swale that surrounds the entire landfill disposal area.

Once the design was complete and permits obtained, Westhorp & Associates was again contracted by the plant operator to provide construction management services. During closure construction activities, Westhorp & Associates was responsible for construction oversight, team coordination, and construction quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC). Construction was completed in August 2011 and the final certification of construction completion was received from the FDEP in September 2011.