TVA’s Paradise Fossil Plant To Burn Paint from GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant

December 17, 2008

DRAKESBORO, Ky. – TVA, General Motors and Waste Management are partnering on a project to burn recovered paint chips from the GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, Ky., at TVA’s Paradise Fossil plant near Drakesboro.

The project, called “From Vettes to Watts,” is the first of its kind for TVA, although TVA does burn alternative fuels, including tires and wood, at other plants

The solid paint pieces currently are collected from an overspray of paint at the GM Bowling Green plant and transported to a landfill in Russellville, Ky.  About 360 tons of the non-hazardous paint overspray will be transported by Waste Management to Paradise each year, where employees will add the paint pieces to the plant’s coal mix.

“This is a great environmental recycling success story for Kentucky,” said TVA Paradise Plant Manager Greg Nunley.  “We will be keeping tons of paint out of the landfill and will burn less coal to produce power for consumers in the Tennessee Valley.”

GM Bowling Green Assembly, home of the Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac XLR, is also a member of the Kentucky Excellence in Environmental Leadership program.

“GM is committed to actions to restore and preserve the environment, reduce waste and pollutants, conserve resources, and recycle materials at every stage of the product life cycle,” said GM Plant Manager Paul Graham.  “The “Vettes to Watts” initiative will allow GM to maintain its commitment to reducing the amount of land filled waste produced by the Bowling Green plant.”

Paradise will obtain the necessary state permits and begin a test burn of the paint in early 2009.  Following the testing period, Paradise will receive enough solid paint pieces to burn a ton of the paint each day.

Once the paint has dried at the factory, it contains no volatile organic compounds and is classified as a non-hazardous waste.  Any emissions from burning the paint will be filtered through the plant’s existing environmental controls, with the possibility of even further reducing emissions.

A research team at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., has demonstrated the ability of paint solid residues to remove mercury emissions with greater than 95 percent efficiency.  Recently concluded tests in a pilot scale facility have further corroborated the results of the laboratory research.

TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financing.  TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 9 million consumers in seven southeastern states.  TVA also manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood damage reduction, navigation, water quality and recreation.

Media Contact

Jessica Stone, (423) 751-4480
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000

TVA Newsroom