EBMUD First Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nation to Turn Post-Consumer
Food Waste into Energy.
U.S. EPA, News Release: 07/14/2009.

"(San Francisco, Calif. -- 07/14/2009) With help from a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency grant, the East Bay Municipal Utility
District (EBMUD) 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.

Quick facts:

* In the United States, more than 30 million tons of food waste are sent
to landfills annually.
* Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste in
the United States, accounting for 18 percent of the waste stream.
* In the United States, less than three percent of food waste is
diverted from landfills.
* If 50 percent of food waste in the United States was anaerobically
digested, enough electricity would be generated to power approximately
2.5 million homes for a year.
* Landfills are the second largest source of human-caused methane in the
United States, and food waste contributes significantly to landfill
methane production."

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/8d55cbbb0cb9ea99852575f300724049?OpenDocument

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Dr. Ann C. Wilkie                          Tel: (352)392-8699
Soil and Water Science Department          Fax: (352)392-7008
University of Florida-IFAS
P.O. Box 110960                         E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Gainesville, FL 32611-0960
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