Dead fish from the red tide turned into electricity in Pinellas

The Pinellas County Solid Waste Department has received more than a thousand tonnes of dead fish killed by the red tide since early June, and some of the debris has been turned into electricity.

Of the 1,035 tonnes of dead fish the county received on Friday, only 144 tonnes were suitable for the waste-to-energy facility, according to recycling program manager Stephanie Watson.

“So about 15% of the red tide debris ends up in our waste-to-energy facility,” she said. “Although we would prefer everything to go here, we can’t because if the load is sandy, it’s not good for our equipment at the waste-to-energy plant. It’s a big machine. So we l ‘let’s send to the landfill. “

The facility generates enough electricity each day to power approximately 45,000 homes. Watson said typically between 80 and 90 percent of all county garbage is burned to save valuable landfill space.

“Here in our landfill we have about 75 years of life left,” she said. “It’s a precious and limited asset. We don’t want the landfill to fill up.”

The county has a goal of zero waste to reach landfill by 2050. To report a red tide of dead fish, call the Florida and Wildlife Conservation Commission hotline at 1-888-404-3922.