A new program designed to turn food scraps into electricity and renewable natural gas that could eventually help power homes in Monterey County launched with a celebratory kickoff this week. Monterey One Water held a ribbon-cutting on Dec. 2 at its Marina facility for a new food waste receiving and co-digestion program that will divert up to 51,000 tons of organic food waste from local landfills annually.
“It all begins with food waste,” Monterey One Water Executive Officer Paul Sciuto said. “This includes things like spoiled food, produce scraps, leftovers from grocery stores and restaurants.” By adding a food-waste receiving station and upgrades to existing anaerobic digesters, Monterey One now combines food waste with wastewater biosolids to significantly increase biogas production.
“By diverting the organics that would typically go into the landfill we can reduce emissions, support California’s climate goals and move closer to a net neutral operation here at our facility,” Sciuto said. The new infrastructure project at Monterey One Water was made possible by a $4.2 million grant from CalRecycle.