BioCycle Magazine, the preeminent organics recycling publication in the U.S., featured the new partnership between Agri-Cycle/Exeter Agri-Energy and ecomaine in their November 2016 issue.
Agri-Cycle Energy picks up the food scraps from a dedicated area on the top floor at the WTE plant, transports them to Exeter Agri-Energy for depackaging and digestion, and returns the separated packaging to ecomaine for combustion.
In the short term, this program will primarily be utilized by commercial customers but in the longer term, the hope is that residential customers in ecomaine communities will have access to this service.
“Demand for residential service is strong, and with the infrastructure in place, municipal collection programs aren’t far off,” said Roche at a recent press conference. “One of the reasons we felt this was the time we should launch the program was because there is demand on the edge of their seats waiting for this to roll out. I expect we’ll be able to divert about 50 to 100 ton/week at first.”
FMI: Read the entire BioCycle article
Food waste collected from around Maine and New Hampshire and stored at ecomaine is loaded into an Agri-Cycle truck for its trip north for processing at the Exeter Agri-Energy facility.
Food waste delivered to Exeter Agri-Energy is processed through the depackaging machine to remove contaminants like plastic and cardboard. All contaminants are sent back to ecomaine to be combusted at their waste-to-energy facility.