ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

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The Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility located in Alexandria, VA, has been named the 2011 Large WTE (Waste-to-Energy) Facility of the Year in the combustion category by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of its strong environmental and safety performance record. The award was announced at the 19th Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference held earlier this week in Lancaster, PA.

In addition to its outstanding environmental and safety performance, the award recognizes Covanta Alexandria/Arlington‘s technological innovation and its many contributions to integrated waste management. Covanta Alexandria/Arlington generates energy from the combustion of municipal waste, processing 975 tons of municipal solid waste per day to produce up to 23 megawatts of renewable energy and recycles approximately 7,000 tons of metals annually.

“On behalf of the employees of Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, I am pleased to accept this award honoring our commitment to environmental performance and safety,” said Bryan Donnelly, Covanta Alexandria/Arlington Facility Manager. “We work tirelessly to operate in the safest and most environmentally sound manner possible and are proud to serve our local community with a sustainable means of managing our municipal solid waste and clean, renewable energy.”

This is not the first time a Covanta Energy-from-Waste facility has been honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in this category. Since the award’s establishment, more than 15 Covanta operated Energy-from-Waste facilities have received this recognition. The 2010 award went to Covanta Plymouth in Conshohocken, PA.

In 2011, Covanta Alexandria/Arlington was the recipient of the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for its demonstrated commitment to the stewardship of Virginia‘s natural resources through its environmental management system and received the Gold Industrial Waste and Pretreatment Environmental Excellence Award from the Virginia Water Environmental Association. In addition, the facility received its OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) STAR designation in 2004 and is also a member of the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program.

“Covanta Alexandria/Arlington and all its employees should be extremely proud of this achievement,” said Covanta Americas President Seth Myones. “This award marks something we have known for quite some time. The Energy-from-Waste facility in Alexandria plays a key role in sustainably managing municipal solid waste while at the same time supplying reliable, clean energy to the community.”

Recovering energy from waste after efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle have been imposed, is a critical component of managing our residual waste. For every ton of municipal solid waste processed at Energy-from-Waste facilities like Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by the equivalent of approximately one ton less of carbon dioxide emissions. This is possible due to the avoidance of methane from landfills, the offset of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel electrical production, and the recovery of metals for recycling.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. For more information, visit www.asme.org.

Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, Inc.

Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, Inc. is a subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corporation is an internationally recognized owner and operator of large-scale Energy-from-Waste and renewable energy projects and a recipient of the Energy Innovator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Covanta’s 44 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities with an environmentally sound solution to their solid waste disposal needs by using that municipal solid waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta’s modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert approximately 20 million tons of waste into 9 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and more than 9 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries. For more information, visit www.covantaenergy.com.

SOURCE Covanta Energy