Composting Food And Yard Waste Atop A Landfill
The City of San Diego (CSD) was composting up to 100,000 tons of green waste material per year using turned windrow technology. As food waste was being added as a new feedstock, and because of the contamination from their automated curbside collection process, the City wanted to evaluate in-vessel technology for the purposes of composting mixed green waste and food waste.
PROJECT DETAILS
Ownership: City of San Diego
Location: Miramar Greenery, CA
Start-Up: 2019
Product: SG MOBILE® System
Input quantity: 45,000 TPY
No. of Heaps: 24 Heaps, 18 covered, 100 ft. x 26 ft. x 12 ft. each
Treatment Time: 8 weeks in 3 Phases
Aeration: Above ground
Control Parameters: Proprietary California Compliant Control mode and Oxygen Control mode
Input material: Source Separated Organics (commercial, institutional, residential food waste) / Yard Waste (tree, grass, and leaves)
Equipment: Pre-Treatment (Grinders) / Front-End-Loader(s) / Electric Powered Winder / Mobile Screen
End Product: High Quality Finished Compost
THE SG SOLUTION
Pilot Scale Demonstration Project
Since food waste was added as a new feedstock, and because of the contamination from their automated curbside collection process, the City wanted to evaluate in-vessel technology for the purposes of composting mixed green waste and food waste. After several alternative methods were evaluated, the City chose to implement an SG MOBILE® System with GORE® Cover (covered aerated static pile) Pilot-Scale Demonstration Project in 2009.
- Food Waste Composting: Compost a new feedstock – commercial, institutional, and residential food waste.
- Evaluate the ability to produce a high-quality finished compost while controlling Odors, GHG Emissions, Leachate, Moisture, and Vectors.
- Meet or exceed local, county, and state regulations.
- Evaluate the operating capability and simplicity of the technology.
- Develop a model for the total cost to build and operate the composting technology.
PROJECT GALLERY
SG MOBILE® System at San Diego Miramar Greenery Landfill
RESULTS DELIVERED
SG MOBILE® System Outperforms Existing Windrow Turning Process
Of significant importance to the Pilot-Scale Demonstration Project was that the SG MOBILE® System process outperformed the existing windrow turning process for quality, time to manufacture, and performance. In addition, the demonstration project validated the following:
- Waterproof, breathable cover suitable for all SoCal climate conditions
- Clear separation of stormwater from leachate
- Small footprint (45K TPY on <3 acres)
- Low energy costs (<2kw per ton processed)
- Oxygen-controlled treatment process
- Conserve moisture during the composting process
- Meet or exceed all government emissions standards
- 8-week treatment time
The IoT-enabled SG COMPOST CONTROL™ System is a secure plug-and-play solution that can be operated from any smart device from anywhere in the world, reducing the cost and complexity of installation and operation. Of additional note is the fact that Sustainable Generation, LLC delivered an all-electric cover winder machine for this project for the first time. Previous generation winders were diesel or gas-powered.
This Pilot-Scale Demonstration Project, along with other positive results of the GORE® Cover’s performance at existing facilities in California, helped CSD earn a $3 million grant from CalRecycle for this project in 2017.
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What our customers are saying…
“The Sustainable Generation® team provided us with outstanding hands-on assistance as we learned to use their system. We retrofit our existing positive air ASP system, which used a compost cap, by upgrading to the SG Mobile® System with GORE® Cover so we could address environmental and community concerns about odors and vector control, and also so we could scale up and expand our composting operation."
Justin Green, Executive Director & Founder Big Reuse
"With disposal and transportation costs increasing with no end in sight, plus an abundance of yard debris from our community, we decided to try biosolids composting at our Wastewater Treatment Plant to reduce our costs and create a Class A product. We went with the SG Mobile® System with GORE® Covers. The ease of operation and the cost savings made this a natural fit. The final product has been a huge hit with the locals who can't get enough Class A compost. We recently doubled the size of our composting operation to keep up with our increasing volumes and demand. This system is easily scalable to meet future demands."
Mike Miller, Public Works Director, City of Florence, Oregon
"We had no composting experience, so conducting a demonstration project with Sustainable Generation® greatly enhanced our understanding of food waste composting and helped us immensely with our subsequent expansion design process. During the selection process, it made a difference that SG's technology was already a proven solution for meeting VOC emission reductions for our San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District."
Jonathan Kalpakoff, VP Mid Valley Disposal
“The Sustainable Generation® team provided us with outstanding hands-on assistance as we learned to use their system. We retrofit our existing positive air ASP system, which used a compost cap, by upgrading to the SG Mobile® System with GORE® Cover so we could address environmental and community concerns about odors and vector control, and also so we could scale up and expand our composting operation."
Justin Green, Executive Director & Founder Big Reuse
"With disposal and transportation costs increasing with no end in sight, plus an abundance of yard debris from our community, we decided to try biosolids composting at our Wastewater Treatment Plant to reduce our costs and create a Class A product. We went with the SG Mobile® System with GORE® Covers. The ease of operation and the cost savings made this a natural fit. The final product has been a huge hit with the locals who can't get enough Class A compost. We recently doubled the size of our composting operation to keep up with our increasing volumes and demand. This system is easily scalable to meet future demands."
Mike Miller, Public Works Director, City of Florence, Oregon
"We had no composting experience, so conducting a demonstration project with Sustainable Generation® greatly enhanced our understanding of food waste composting and helped us immensely with our subsequent expansion design process. During the selection process, it made a difference that SG's technology was already a proven solution for meeting VOC emission reductions for our San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District."