VICTORVILLE – Global leader in the production of “clean energy, fertilizer and recycled water” Anaergia, announced Friday, that it will task operations at the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA) facility to inject renewable natural gas (RNG) made from both wastewater solids and food waste into the Southwest Gas utility pipeline. State agencies estimate that at least 50-100 new or expanded facilities will be needed to comply with California Senate Bill 1383 requiring food and other organic waste to be redirected from landfills.
The Victorville facility is the first in California to carry out this process and will be capable of producing and injecting up to 320,000 MMBTU of RNG into the region’s gas utility pipeline each year.
SoCal Biomethane retrofitted the facility’s existing wastewater treatment plant with “high-efficiency Omnivore™ technology” to produce the pipeline-quality RNG.
“These infrastructure improvements provide operational and capacity resiliency, greater operational flexibility and the increased digester capacity we’ll need to serve the future growth of our community,” said VVWRA Board Chairman Bill Holland. “In addition, the ability to process food waste and create RNG benefits our agency economically.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 43% of what gets sent to landfills in the US is either food waste, yard clippings or paper/cardboard. Senate Bill 1383 has the goal of reducing the amount of organic waste landfilled by 75% by 2025.
“Under Senate Bill 1383, every California municipality must now find a way to reduce food waste and other organic waste going to landfills. Anaergia offers a unique set of technologies that convert existing infrastructure at wastewater treatment plants into highly efficient systems capable of treating both wastewater residual solids as well as food waste,” said Anaergia Chairman and CEO Andrew Benedek.
VVWRA is a regional resource recovery agency that provides wastewater treatment services and recycled water for Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville, Spring Valley Lake and Oro Grande.
