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Elk River Resource Processing Plant Elk River Resource Processing Plant is the facility where the municipal solid waste used to make refuse-derived fuel for powering Great River Energy’s Elk River Energy Recovery Station is processed. Refuse-derived fuel is a renewable energy source. |
Each day, Sherburne and Anoka counties deliver municipal solid waste to the Elk River Resource Processing Plant in Elk River, Minn. Steel, aluminum and items that cannot be burned are removed and the remaining waste is chopped up before it is delivered to Elk River Energy Recovery Station as refuse-derived fuel (RDF).
Over the course of a year, up to 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste is transformed into RDF. The RDF is hauled to the Elk River Energy Recovery Station where it is burned to generate enough electricity to power as many as 30,000 homes each year. Converting municipal solid waste to RDF so it can be burned to generate electricity is environmentally beneficial. Otherwise the waste would be hauled to a landfill.
