Tentative plans call for Continuus Materials and Anergia to operate a multi-faceted mixed waste processing facility that could handle 400,000 tons of garbage a year, as well as 30,000 tons of recyclables, to produce renewable natural gas, fertilizer and recyclable commodities. It would also produce a roof coverboard made from recycled plastic and paper. On Oct. 7, the Kent County Board of Public Works will consider starting negotiations with two companies, Continuus Materials and Anergia, to become the business park’s “anchor tenant” around which other recycling and waste processing companies will locate.
Kent County DPW officials estimate the business park plan will cost the county $70 million, including $19 million to prepare the location with utilities and roadways. The business park would be located on about 250 acres of vacant land straddling the Kent-Allegan county line just south of the South Kent Landfill. If all goes as planned, the facility could be up and running in about four years, said Dar Baas, director of Kent County Department of Public Works.
Called the Sustainable Business Park, the idea is to bring on an anchor tenant and then court other tenants that could utilize the sorted mixed waste from the main facility for materials production.