We have a 750,000 gallon anaerobic digester, which means that we can recycle food waste on a large scale. This is why we are ideal recyclers for restaurant food waste and grocery store food waste.
When organic waste comes in to our farm, the trucks carrying the waste are weighed at the weighing station. All trucks carrying organic waste are weighed here when they arrive and are then weighed when they leave, so that we know exactly how much organic waste comes in every day.
The organic waste then goes to the dumping station, where it is off-loaded from the truck. Trucks loaded with organic waste back up to the dumping station and dump it here. From here it is fed into a “mixer.” This is where the organic material is mixed to aid in breaking down the solid organic material..
From the mixer, the organic waste is then fed into our anaerobic digester, which holds 750,000 gallons. This is where all organic waste, (food waste, spoiled food, restaurant food waste, grocery store food waste) sits in a controlled and closed environment to decompose. In here, the organic waste is broken down without air (anaerobically) in order to produce methane and biofuel. All of the methane and biofuel is captured and used on our farm to heat our greenhouses for cucumber production and swine houses in the winter.
We also accept land clearing debris, such as trees and other vegetation, to be run through our wood chipper and used for mulch.
Why recycle?
About 50% of household waste is organic (food waste) and approximately 30% of all waste is organic. The problem with that is that organic waste that ends up in landfills is a major source of methane gas. The reason for this is because organic waste in landfills cannot decompose properly, since it is under tons of other kinds of waste and does not have access to air. As a result, it generates methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas. As a greenhouse gas, it is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and particularly harmful to the environment. Organic waste in landfills also contributes to leachate production, or harmful liquid from landfills that seeps into the soil and into the groundwater.
Another important reason to recycle organic waste is that it takes up valuable space in landfills. Diverting your food waste from landfills to our organic recycling facility puts your organic waste to good use!
What does all of this mean? Recycling organic waste significantly helps protect our environment, in the ground and in our air.