Waste Reduction Efforts

AmerenUE won the 1996 Pollution Prevention Award for the company’s Sioux Plant initiative to burn discarded tires to generate electricity—Sioux has burned millions of tires since 1992, when AmerenUE became Missouri’s first utility to burn tires as fuel.

Sioux can burn approximately 20,000 tons of tire chips annually—the equivalent of 25,000 tons of coal per year—providing electricity for more than 4,000 residential customers and consuming more than 2 million discarded used tires a year.

Annually, Sioux Plant also burns 150,000 tons of pet coke—a byproduct of refining oil—providing another way to turn waste into electricity. Ameren companies also recycle thousands of tons of ash for road fill, blasting grit, roofing shingles and concrete and has encouraged research in converting ash to building blocks for use in construction.

AmerenEnergy Fuels and Services Company finds beneficial uses for ash and other materials from the company's plants. For printed materials describing these services, e-mail akonsky@ameren.com.

In addition, over the years Ameren’s operating companies—AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS, AmerenIP and AmerenUE—have sponsored a range of environmental education programs and been responsible waste managers, encouraging the recycling and reuse of materials whenever possible.

Download our Waste Management Fact Sheet.