First Wastewater Treatment Plant In Nation To Turn Post-Consumer Food Waste Into Energy

[Fledermaus]

With help from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is pioneering a method of generating renewable energy using food scraps. EBMUD takes food waste from San Francisco and Contra Costa County restaurants and commercial food processors and uses them to produce green renewable energy through anaerobic digestion. The innovative approach decreases food waste sent to landfills and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

In light of San Francisco's recently signed mandatory composting law -- the first in the nation -- residents and businesses will begin increasing their composting efforts or finding new and unique ways to divert food scraps from being sent to the landfill. EBMUD's anaerobic digester, in operation since 2004, is leading the way, and currently processes 90 tons per week of post-consumer food waste from restaurants and food processing facilities. The facility plans on increasing the amount of food waste processed to its maximum capacity of 200 tons per day. The process begins when food waste is separated for disposal and pick up. At the EBMUD's main wastewater treatment plant, waste is broken down in large containers called anaerobic digesters. The bacteria inside the digester decompose the food. The digester captures the biogas, and the methane from the biogas powers the treatment plant. Material remaining after the digestion process can be composted and used as a natural fertilizer to help grow food.

http://www.poweronline.com/article.mvc/EBMUD-First-Wastewater-Treatment-Plant-In-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

[Ilsa]

1. I wish them luck. I don't use dairy or meat in my compost, though.

I use vegetarian food scraps and dried green rubbish. My compost is going strong and has no odor.