The facility receives Story County garbage and turns about 70 percent of it into fuel for the Ames coal power plant, said John Pohlman, assistant superintendent of the ARR facility. They have a much better efficiency that way. When the garbage reaches the ARR, the burnable material, mostly paper, is separated from ferrous metals and other non-burnables. Ferrous metals are recycled out daily. The remaining material goes to the Boone County Land Fill.
Plastic is a relatively small percentage.
There may be some fiber material and very small amounts of wood. After the ARR processes the garbage, it is put in a bin between the ARR and the power plant. The power plant extracts it out of the bin and processes it for its burning needs. Although garbage is only 10 percent of the fuel used at the power plant, Pohlman said this is not insignificant. In addition, burning garbage uses up less land fill space.