In 2016, California adopted Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) to reduce short-lived climate pollutants like methane released from decomposing organic material in landfills. SB 1383 establishes specific targets to achieve: a 50 percent reduction in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste at landfills by 2020, and a 75 percent reduction by 2025. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) offer one avenue for the targeted organics diversion by accepting food waste diverted from landfills and co-digesting it with municipal solids. Through co-digestion of diverted food waste in anaerobic digesters, municipal WWTPs can help achieve SB 1383 goals while producing and making beneficial use of biogas, which is a renewable energy source.
This session will summarize the results of a comprehensive study of co-digestion capacity at WWTPs throughout California. While results are specific to the state, the evaluation methodologies, costs, lessons learned, regulatory considerations, and potential greenhouse gas emissions will be valuable to any facility, state, or regulatory body considering implementation of organics waste diversion through co-digestion.
