The Hermitage Municipal Authority started adding food waste to its biosolids in 2014 to produce more methane for its combined heat and power system.
At first the wastewater treatment plant handled only liquid waste from a pair of food producers but over nearly 10 years the menu options increased substantially. Canned soft drinks? Hermitage can handle that. Fruits and vegetables in plastic or cardboard crates? They’ll take it. Mayonnaise in plastic jars? Send it over.The authority found multiple sources of organic material to add to the anaerobic digesters while creating a market for processing food waste in an environmentally responsible way.
