L.L. Bean/Lee Surace Colloquium Series Continues with “Mining for ‘Gold’ in Landfills”
As part of the L.L. Bean/Lee Surace Colloquium Series, the University of Southern Maine will host Travis Wagner, who will present “Mining for ‘Gold’ in Landfills.” The lecture will begin at 4:45 p.m. on Monday, March 10 in USM’s University Events Room on the seventh floor of the Glickman Family Library on the Portland campus. A short reception will follow with complimentary refreshments provided by L.L. Bean. The event is free and open to the public. Please complete the online registration form in advance.
In Maine, using onsite technological innovations, municipally owned ecomaine is at the forefront of mining landfills to recover and re-use metals. ecomaine has become the first American landfill mining operation to profitably recover post-burn metals. Between November 2011 and November 2013 ecomaine was able to remove 22,000 tons of metals from its 20-acre ash monofill, which were sent off-site for resmelting. Over 10,500 cubic yards of material has been removed from the monofill, thereby increasing available space and avoiding future expansion costs.
Wagner is an associate professor of environmental science and policy at USM. He also coordinates the minor concentration in environmental sustainability. Prior to his career in academia Wagner worked for a variety of consulting firms in Washington D.C., supporting the development of policies, regulations and national and international compliance strategies for hazardous, highly radioactive and municipal solid waste. Among the agencies he advised were the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army. Wagner has written numerous books, articles and peer-reviewed journal articles on solid and hazardous waste management. See The L.L. Bean/Lee Surace Colloquium Series website for more information.
