By Nora Goldstein, BioCycle magazine —
Two recent analyses shed light on stand-alone and food waste codigestion facilities processing pre and postconsumer streams.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been surveying operators of anaerobic digesters that process pre and postconsumer food waste streams since 2017. Recently, the agency released the findings for Calendar Years (CY) 2020 and 2021. It also is distributing the final survey now (responses are due by August 5, 2024) and will conduct data verification and analysis before closing out the anaerobic digestion data collection project in 2025.
EPA surveys three types of facilities:
- Stand-alone food waste digesters: Stand-alone digesters typically accept and process feedstocks from one or more sources for a tipping fee. Other stand-alone digesters are built to manage a certain type of material for a specific business. These digesters can process yard trimmings, manures, and wastewater solids, but the primary feedstock is usually food waste.