Todd, representing the company Waste Away, gave a five-minute overview of the firm’s municipal solid waste conversion technology to the Loudon County Solid Waste Commission. He said the on‑premise process removes recyclables, converts remaining plant‑based waste into a fluffy “cellulose” material and, through anaerobic digestion, produces renewable natural gas. “We can divert 85% of a city’s trash into clean, renewable, sustainable biofuels,” Todd said during the presentation.

The company described a multi-step system: front‑end single-stream recycling to remove plastics, metals and glass; a hydrolyzer process that separates remaining organics into a cellulose‑like solid biofuel; and anaerobic digestion that yields renewable natural gas in roughly 20–30 days. Todd said Waste Away sells the solid biofuel to industrial users such as steel mills, cement kilns and paper mills and is pursuing multiple plant sites across the U.S. and abroad.

Commissioners asked technical questions. One commissioner asked how glass is handled; Todd replied that glass is removed and can be reused as aggregate in construction or asphalt. Dr. Hartel asked whether Waste Away had completed an energy‑return‑on‑energy‑investment analysis; Todd said the company had done such analyses and offered to provide pro‑forma and engineering reports on request.

The commission did not take action on the presentation. Chair and staff suggested inviting Waste Away back for a longer briefing in January so commissioners and staff can review supporting engineering and energy‑return data before considering any operational or contract steps.