Cleveland Browns Start Food Waste to Energy Program

The Cleveland Browns have launched a program to turn food waste at its stadium into energy.

The project is a partnership with the Browns, Forest City Enterprises (Cleveland), the Quasar Energy Group (Cleveland), Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), InSinkErator (Racine, Wis.) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy (Rosemont, Ill.). The Browns are the first professional franchise to implement the Grind2Energy system from InSinkErator, according to a news release.

 At Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium food scraps that are collected and ground into a slurry and then transported to an anaerobic digester operated by Quasar Energy at Ohio State's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). At the anaerobic digester, which periodically adds cow manure to lower acidity and boost the methane, Quasar produces biogas for energy and fuel uses.

The system will divert 35 tons of food waste from landfills each season and generate enough electricity to power a single-family home for a year and a half.

"One of our top priorities is innovation, and this new system not only helps our stadium operate efficiently but also preserves valuable resources in our community," said Browns President Alec Scheiner.