Covanta Extends Waste Plant Partnership with Huntington

Covanta has extended its waste management plant partnership with the town of Huntington to operate the Huntington Resource Recovery Facility through Dec. 1, 2024.

The plant, at 99 Town Line Road in East Northport, since 1991 has been a key element of sustainable solid waste management systems for the towns of Huntington and Smithtown. The energy-from-waste facility at the 13-acre East Northport landfill processes up to 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day and generates 25 megawatts of energy that is sold to PSEG Long Island, according to the town’s web site. Covanta Huntington is the cornerstone of an integrated solid waste management system for these communities, Covanta said, where landfill waste disposal is prohibited by state law. That energy is enough, the company said, to power 20,000 Long Island homes around the clock. The facility also recycles more than 7,000 tons of metal annually.

“The continuation of our partnership with Covanta provides our community with a solution to waste management that preserves our valuable natural resources while generating clean energy,” said Huntington Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, noting it complements Huntington’s efforts to be a more sustainable community.

According to Covanta, in 27 years of operation, the Huntington Resource Recovery Facility has:

  • Converted 8.3 million tons of municipal solid waste into 4.7 million megawatt hours of clean, renewable energy – enough to power more than 435,000 homes for a year
  • Recovered approximately 200,000 tons of metal, enough to build the Whitestone Bridge that connects the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx seven times over
  • Avoided the generation of 6 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to the emissions from 1.2 million passenger vehicles in one year.

“The Towns of Huntington and Smithtown have developed a leading waste-management system that includes energy-from-waste for any residual waste that remains after recycling,” said Rick Sandner, vice president and general manager of Covanta’s New York/New Jersey region. “We are proud of our work in providing safe, reliable waste disposal and a source of clean energy, and look forward to serving these communities for many years to come.”

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