Commercial operation of the plant began on December 1, 1994. Construction was completed two months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. In January of 2006 construction began on a third combustion unit capable of processing 636 tons per day (tpd) of garbage. This expansion project was completed the summer of 2007 with a first fire achieved on August 18, 2007. The Waste To Energy facility can mass burn 1836 tpd of garbage and produce up to 53 gross megawatts of power, which is enough electricity to power about the rough equivalent of all the homes in the city of Bonita Springs.
The Resource Recovery Plant is equipped with extensive air-pollution control systems. It is the first operational plant in the United States to be built with a permanent activated carbon injection system for controlling mercury emissions. The environmental control systems were designed with the new, more stringent, Clean Air Act, in mind, and emissions have met the proposed standards without any modification. Facility emissions are continuously monitored and strictly regulated by state and federal agencies.
All aspects of the plant are monitored from the central control room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The Lee County Resource Recovery Facility is a sound, long-term, environmental and economic solution to solid waste disposal. It won the prestigious Power Engineering and Power Engineering International magazines' 1995 Project of the Year Award, which recognizes excellence in design, construction and operation of power generation systems throughout the world.
The Lee County facility also received the prestigious 1996 Environmental Citizen of the Year Award from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Most recently the facility received the 1999 Waste-To-Energy Excellence Gold Award from the Solid Waste Association of North America. These awards recognize Lee County's excellent performance history and outstanding overall integrated solid waste management system."
How it works (more detailed): 
First, the trucks delivering waste are weighed at the scale house and; monitored for safety. Once cleared they enter an enclosed tipping area where they will unload waste into a concrete storage pit. An overhead crane mixes the delivered waste, bulky objects that can not be processed are removed and land-filled. The crane lifts the waste to the furnace hoppers located above the back wall of the pit. Air from the pit and tipping area is used for burning the waste (this prevents the escape of dust and odor from the building.) Once in the furnace, the waste travels on moving metal grates. A minimum temperature of 1800 F is used, assuring complete combustion and leaving little chance of releasing unburned pollutants.
Hot gases are carried up from the grate area through several boiler tube sections where heat is absorbed to produce steam. The gases pass from the boiler through a scrubber, where a water mist containing lime is mixed with the gases. The gases are cooled and a chemical reaction of the lime with the gases neutralizes any acids and produces particles that can be collected.
Next in the process line is a baghouse that works like a large vacuum cleaner, collecting particles produced in the boiler and scrubber. The cooled and cleaned gases are vented through a stack flue topping out at 200 feet above the ground.
The entire process is guided and monitored by operators from a central control room. All processing activities take place indoors to control dust odors, and to prevent rain water from coming in contact with either waste or ash. Metals in the ash are removed and recycled while the remaining ash is land-filled.
Steam from the boilers power a turbine generator, producing electricity to run plant equipment. The remaining electricity, about 95% of the total, is sold to Seminole Electric to be used in our homes and businesses.
