SWACO's Green Energy Center has received the "Innovation Award of Excellence" from The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). The Green Energy Center turns landfill methane from decomposing trash into vehicle fuel (Compressed Natural Gas). The Center also is designed to power itself via a 250 kw micro-turbine which uses the clean natural gas generated by the process.

SWACO Executive Director Ron Mills thanks SWANA for the honor. "We believe our first-of-a-kind Green Energy Center is the wave of the future. This process can help solve America's future energy needs if it is applied at landfills across the country. SWANA's award shows that our industry recognizes this potential. We appreciate the vote of confidence." Earlier this year, The Green Energy Center was honored as a "project of the year" by the U.S. EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program. It also received a 2009 Clean Air Award from the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission.

"SWANA is pleased to honor SWACO for the organization's pioneering accomplishments on the green energy front," says John H. Skinner, Ph.D. SWANA's Executive Director and CEO. "This commitment to advancing solid waste management is outstanding and we are very proud of SWACO's efforts. The Green Energy Center shows how America's throwaways are actually resources waiting to be discovered."

The completed phase one of SWACO's has the capacity to produce 250,000 gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) annually using just 8% of the methane from SWACO's Franklin County landfill. Phase two, when completed, will have the annual capacity of 5-to-7-million gasoline gallon equivalents.

The Innovation Award of Excellence will be publicly presented at WASTECON, SWANA's annual solid waste exposition, on Thursday, September 24, 2009 in Long Beach, California. SWANA's Excellence Awards Program recognizes outstanding solid waste programs and facilities that promote socially, environmentally and economically sound management of solid waste. Award winners demonstrate their commitment to environmental compliance, program efficiency, safety and progress.

SWACO is the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio serving Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio with innovative waste reduction and recycling programs. We provide residents with the second largest network of drop off recycling centers in the nation. Businesses can receive advice on going green as well from SWACO's extensive online programs such as "E-TRAC", waste audits, and more. Our community outreach provides recycling opportunities in partnership with the Columbus City Schools, the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew, the Columbus Clippers baseball team, The Columbus Arts festival and many other community events. SWACO also operates the Franklin County landfill and three strategically placed transfer stations.

SWANA, The Solid Waste Association of North America, has been the leading professional association in the solid waste management field for over 40 years. The organization's mission is "to advance the practice of environmentally and economically sound management of municipal solid waste." SWANA serves over 8,200 members and thousands more industry professionals with technical conferences, certifications, publications and a large offering of technical training courses.