Entrance — The Solid Waste Authority in West Palm Beach is home to two waste-to-energy facilities. About 400 employees receive trash from Palm Beach County and combust it to turn it into electricity. According to the SWA, enough electricity is produced to power most of the eight buildings on the 1,300-acre footprint and about 90,000 homes per year.

Voices of the Earth: A look at turning waste into energy (includes photo essay)

Darin Virgile, Antonella Del Carpio, Alessandro Miro and Chelsea Rosario

December 4, 2024

This behind-the-scenes look into the Solid Waste Authority in Palm Beach County follows the process of recycling and turning waste into energy.

The first step starts at the Recovered Materials Processing Facility. Workers sort through waste to see which containers and fibers don’t belong and make sure they don’t get mixed up.

32,000 tons of trash are picked up by a mechanical claw to move the trash to the incinerator. The mechanical claw has to move, mix, weigh, and fetch all the trash that is collected and dumped by the garbage trucks before moving to the incinerator.

Crane operators are responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly. They pick up the waste and sort it into piles before dumping it into the incinerator. They also check that the crane doesn’t have any issues before picking up the next load of trash.

Crane operators use joysticks and press certain green buttons to move tons of garbage a day. The joysticks control the crane while the foot pedals are for the operators to extend the range of a load that is too far for them to reach. The green buttons assist crane operators whenever they finish dumping loads.

Large amounts of trash are moved to the incinerator where the fire inside can reach up to 2,300°F degrees. This process reduces the trash volume by about 80% and the amount of trash that ends up in landfills gets reduced by the intense burning.

Operators in the control room oversee what is happening in the incinerator. They make sure everything is running smoothly and the amount of waste that’s being disposed of into the incinerator is being reduced properly.

The cooling steam from the pipes provides energy to pumps throughout the facility. This system
supports the conversion of waste into energy by powering machinery that transports steam, a byproduct of burning waste to generate electricity and reduce landfill use.

Darin Virgile

Darin Virgile is a senior at Florida International University who hopes to work in the sports industry. Virgile's passion for journalism started in high school where he edited videos and conducted interviews with the football team. He hopes to become a broadcast journalist or a columnist at a major broadcasting company to talk about sports. Virgile will graduate from the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media with a bachelor's degree in digital communication and media in Spring 2025.

Antonella Del Carpio

Antonella Del Carpio is a junior at Florida International University who hopes to pursue a career in the film and television industry. Del Carpio is interested in directing, editing, producing and filming. She hopes to take on a role where she is able to work behind the scenes in production. Del Carpio will graduate from the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media with a bachelor’s degree in digital communication & media in Summer 2026.

Alessandro Miro

Alessandro Miro is a junior at Florida International University who is passionate about video production and the film industry. They enjoy creating personal content such as short-form content, social media posts, and videos. Miro hopes to work as a videographer or professional film editor in the future. Miro will graduate from the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media with a bachelor’s degree in digital communication & media in Spring 2026.

Chelsea Rosario

Chelsea Rosario is a junior at Florida International University who is majoring in digital TV and multimedia production. Rosario interned at NBCUniversal for the corporate events and employee experience team at Telemundo Enterprises. Rosario is currently the lead supervisor at Entertainment Works, INC. where she collects market research data for movie studios and big name brands. Rosario will graduate from the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media with a bachelor's degree in digital communication and media in Fall 2025.