By doing so, food waste can be diverted for composting.
Last week, the City Council submitted a bid of $387,762 to a TNT industrial contractor to perform the electrical and plumbing work needed to install and operate the city’s recently acquired F2E/Food Waste Treatment Mega THOR Food Separation Project. I was. Manteca.
The food separator was purchased with the help of an $800,000 Cal Recycle grant.
Once the food waste is separated from the package, it turns into a puree. It is then transported to a composting operation.
This is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to keep food waste from burial.
The first effort began more than five years ago, when orange carts were placed in restaurants, grocery stores, and facilities that provide a wide range of food services, such as schools and hospitals, to collect food waste.
In August 2019, the city began using food waste as a power source for some solid waste trucks.
Manteca’s state-of-the-art food waste-to-fuel infrastructure was built in conjunction with a wastewater treatment improvement project and a compressed biogas fuel facility.
The end result of the process means:
*Food waste is being used to power solid waste trucks instead of being buried.
*The biogas that the truck uses is a clean burning fuel as opposed to diesel.
*The methane gas produced from the wastewater treatment process is not combusted and contributes to air quality problems, but is instead combined with food waste to produce biogas fuel.
This project was made possible in a fairly cost-effective manner for several reasons.
First and foremost, public works staff were looking for ways to reduce the cost of long-distance solid waste and wastewater treatment facilities, as well as ways to meet state mandates to avoid potential future fines. Instead of a narrow focus, they took a holistic approach.
The fact that the city has its own wastewater treatment facility and is one of the few cities in California that still has its own solid waste collection business made this project feasible.
The solid waste digester needed an overhaul. The city eventually built two new digesters and renovated the old ones to accommodate future growth.
Manteca also has an effective food waste collection program for schools and commercial customers such as restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals and school orange carts.
This was started in 2017. As an example, at the Manteca Unified school, student volunteers oversee the cafeteria and ensure that food waste is segregated from other trash as students buss their lunch trays and bag lunches. is confirming. As a result, food waste from schools is very good with minimal contamination.
The collected food waste was used by the Lathrop company to make compost while the food waste fuel device was being built.
Manteca is working on other projects that help make the wastewater treatment process cost effective, promote tolling and enhance solid waste recycling.
The city is also working on a composting operation that combines residential food waste, yard waste, and items such as boxes used for newspapers, cereals, etc. Use the. In doing so, the city is immune to the whims of the international market for recycled materials.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, send an email to dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com.
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