Clean World Opens Organic Waste Conversion Unit

Clean World Partners has opened what it claims is the United States’ first commercial high-solid organic waste conversion facility, at American River Packaging's (ARP) Sacramento, Calif., headquarters.

Sacramento-based Clean World said in a news release that the new facility will convert food waste, agricultural residue and other organic waste into renewable energy, fertilizer and soil enhancements.

The Clean World system installed at ARP, which makes corrugated packaging products, will convert per day 7.5 tons of food waste from Campbell Soup and other regional food producers along with 0.5 tons of unrecyclable corrugated material from the packaging company into natural gas. The natural gas will be used to generate about 1,300 kilowatts of renewable electricity per day, supplying about 37 percent of ARP's electricity needs.

The facility, called the Clean World Organic Waste Recycling Center, will divert more than 2,900 tons of waste annually from landfills, and it will produce 1,000 tons of organic soil amendments per year for regional agricultural and horticultural applications.

The operation is based on anaerobic digestion technology developed at University of California - Davis. Clean World said its digesters can process organic solid waste with up to 50 percent solid content without adding water.

The project is a partnership with UC Davis, CalRecycle, the California Energy Commission, the city of Sacramento and private investment funding.

A Clean World system for a 100-ton-per day facility also is under construction in Sacramento.