Growing environmental awareness, emerging regulatory drivers to divert biodegradable waste from landfill, dwindling natural resources, and increasing urban populations have led to a need to develop sustainable solutions for energy generation and maximum resource efficiency. Drawing on our international experience, URS works with technology partners, and developers of sustainable waste management facilities to deliver comprehensive solutions from concept through implementation.

Our waste management and waste-to-energy specialists work to achieve industry-best outcomes for clients, consistently meeting regulatory requirements in the development  of new energy recovery  facilities (both thermal and biological processes), modern waste process and resource recovery facilities, and engineered landfills. URS’ multidisciplinary range of services enables us to assist clients with the evaluation and development of viable and bankable process technology plants. We provide civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and process engineering, geo-environmental engineering and architectural design for facilities using a wide variety of technologies, as well as a full range of permitting, planning, sustainability and environmental consultancy support. 

Our sustainable biomass management services cover technologies fuelled by energy crops, forestry residues, agricultural residues and animal slurries and extend to the developing technology of oil produced from algae. 

Our waste management services cover the 5R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and residual waste management. URS assists clients with the evaluation and development of realistic alternatives to landfill for both solid and liquid wastes. We also specialise in the management of methane, the greenhouse gas produced by landfills. Services range from assessment of gas volumes through to the potential hazards created by offsite migration of gas. In addition, we are an industry leader in the field of hazardous waste management and policy development. 

In both biomass and waste management solutions, we provide contract review on electricity, heat and biomethane utilisation, and advice on claiming greenhouse gas credits and/or renewable energy certificates.

Through identifying synergies between biomass and/or waste types, other forms of thermal power generation and industry needs, we have developed cost-effective and sustainable solutions to previously difficult  challenges.

URS works with clients to continuously improve products, services and processes to increase resource efficiency and reduce pollution and waste at the source. We assist a wide variety of companies with implementation of cost-effective cleaner technology strategies, and consistently find that many opportunities exist through changing work practices, and management and training of staff—with little or no capital cost required.