In Edmonton, Canada, something as mundane as municipal waste treatment is attracting worldwide attention. The waste is the same as at municipal waste plants around the world – shoes, sofas and other items that can't be recycled and are destined for landfills or incinerators – but the fate that awaits Alberta's garbage is different: as of this month, it's being turned into biofuels. "We use heat and pressure to break down the materials that usually end up in the landfill", explains Vincent Chornet, chief executive of Enerkem, the company behind the technology. "We then turn it into methanol and ethanol. In total, the process from waste to final product takes about four minutes." Enerkem's technology, performed on 15 different categories of rubbish at extremely high temperatures, produces renewable electricity, chemicals for plastic and of course, ethanol for cars.
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/canadian-firm-sofa-biofuels-rubbish-treatment