Milton Regional Sewer Authority Partners with Burnham RNG to Turn Food Waste into Energy

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Burnham RNG, a full-service developer and owner of organic waste management and resource recovery assets across the U.S., announced today that they have been selected by Milton Regional Sewer Authority (MRSA) to implement a project to transform MRSA's wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) into a Resource Recovery Center. 
Burnham will utilize Milton's excess capacity to accept food waste from regional businesses and biosolids from regional wastewater treatment plants. The project will capture biogas generated from the wastewater treatment process and produce pipeline quality renewable natural gas. As MRSA's partner, Burnham will design, operate, install, and finance all improvements necessary to complete the project.

Like many wastewater treatment plants across the country, MRSA's anaerobic digesters are underutilized. The project will enable MRSA to optimize their facility to provide a sustainable and reliable outlet for organic material and increase revenue by producing and selling energy produced by the digestion process.

As a result, MRSA will enable regional food processors and other wastewater plants to divert waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills and recycle it to create renewable natural gas (RNG). With the revenue generated from RNG sales and organics processing, MRSA can lower sewage fees for existing customers and create an alternative and sustainable revenue stream to offset inflation cost pressures.

"We are excited to partner with MRSA on this journey," said Burnham CEO Chris Tynan. " We applaud MRSA's forward-looking perspective and view this project as a model for other municipalities to replicate. MRSA is demonstrating an industry-leading vision by leveraging their existing wastewater infrastructure to generate clean energy and incremental revenue."

"We were looking for a turnkey partner with the experience and resources to build, finance, and operate all the facilities necessary to optimize our current infrastructure and produce renewable natural gas," said Genie Bausinger, Executive Director of MRSA. "Burnham RNG has all the capabilities to be that single source of accountability for this long-term project. We especially valued their resourcefulness and creativity in creating a plan to get the most out of our existing assets. The fact that they are backed by Ares, one of the largest and most experienced infrastructure investors, gave us confidence that they had the financial wherewithal to complete the project."