Most Bermudians know very little about their trash and its disposal — until there is no pick-up.One Warwick resident, however, has become keenly aware of the important role trash disposal plays in Bermuda.

Kirk Outerbridge, who recently became the first Bermudian Plant Manager of the Tynes Bay Incinerator, said he never imagined he would be working with trash.

“This was my first job out of college and I had had some talks with people in Government to open some doors before leaving college,” Mr. Outerbridge, 31, said. “Trash is not really what I thought about working with, but the plant is so much more than that. It is actually more of a power plant. We take trash and turn it into power. To have this kind of technology in Bermuda is quite ahead of its time. Most places still have landfills.”

The Tynes Bay Incinerator has to run 24 hours a day seven days a week to dispose of the 250 to 300 tonnes of trash they receive daily.

As it is dropped off by the public or by garbage trucks, it is sent to the refuse bunker where a one-tonne crane is operated from an enclosed control room over the hall helps to mix it.

Mixing the garbage helps create an even distribution of wet and dry waste as well as light and heavy material before crane-loads of it are placed into the hopper, which transfers it to the burners.

As Maurice Woodmoore, who was operating the crane when The Royal Gazette <$>was there, can attest it is no easy job. “To light the furnace takes ten hours and to shut it down takes eight hours so it can definitely not be a nine to five job.

“This requires the hoppers to be loaded every 15 minutes.”

And as the waste burns — it is changed into ash and steam. The steam operates the pistons and drives the plant as well as supplying two to three percent of Belco’s power while the ash is formed into metre-sized blocks.

Because the furnace has to run in order to power the plant, it cannot be allowed to go cold — so every day of the year including Easter, Christmas and both days of Cup Match — Tynes Bay Incinerator is working.

This also means ensuring the trash that is burned does not include tin, aluminium or glass, which will melt and jam the furnace rather than turning to ask- that’s where the new recycling plant comes in handy, according to Mr. Outerbridge. (see story on Page 11 for information about the new initiative).

Before working to keep Bermuda clean, Mr. Outerbridge attended Warwick Academy and finished a post-graduate year at Saltus before attending the Florida Institute of Technology.

He graduated from the Institute in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and after keeping in contact with Government during his studies he entered their operations engineer trainee position upon graduation.

He said: “Both of my parents were employed by Government and I always looked it as being a good opportunity.”

As the Plant Manager, Mr. Outerbridge who has worked his way to the top from his trainee position more than years ago oversees all general operations and maintenance of the plant, as well as, the 50 employees who work to keep the plant going.

The trainee position, however, meant he received development in the areas of power engineering, occupational health and safety and supervisory and management development.

While shadowing professional engineers and assuming increasingly more responsible positions at the Tynes Bay facility, he also spent six months in Canada working with a Mechanical Engineering Consulting company honing his professional skills.

After the time spent abroad, Mr. Outerbridge obtained his professional engineer licence and become the first Bermudian to run the Tynes Bay facility.

“Mr. Outerbridge is one example of the success of our efforts”, said the Minister of Works and Engineering, Dennis Lister. “He is now a Professional Engineer and we are confident that he is ready to take on all the challenges that the Ministry has for him.”

And Mr. Lister explained the Ministry of Works and Engineering offers training and development opportunities for Bermudians in number of engineering fields.

These opportunities include the fields of Structural, Highway, Water and Sewage Engineering and Project and Waste Management. We also have several other professional engineers working in this Ministry who have been part of these training and development opportunities as well as others who have moved on to the private sector in Bermuda and have very successful careers.

Mr. Lister added: “We are proud of our work in this regard and we hope that recent graduates from the Bermuda education system will look seriously at a professional engineering career with our Ministry.”

The power of trash