Codigestion Of Food Waste In California
In 2016, California adopted Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (greenhouse gases) like methane released from decomposing organic material in landfills. SB 1383 establishes specific targets and timelines to achieve reductions in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste at landfills. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) offer one avenue for the targeted organics diversion by accepting food waste and codigesting it with municipal solids. Through codigestion of diverted food waste in anaerobic digesters, municipal WWTPs could help achieve SB 1383 goals while producing and making beneficial use of biogas.
The California State Water Resources Control Board received a multi-purpose grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze codigestion capacity at municipal WWTPs in California and worked with Carollo Engineers, Inc. (Carollo) to complete the study and author the final report. The report, Co-Digestion Capacity In California, was released by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) on August 24, 2020.
By BioCycle