Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Monterey County, California |
5,000 TPY |
1st Quarter 2013
Under a long-term agreement, Zero Waste Energy (ZWE) partnered with Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD) to design and build the first U.S. based anaerobic digestion (AD) SMARTFERM plant. ZWE operates the facility, which includes four AD digesters used to convert up to 5,000 tons per year (TPY) of organic waste into biogas that will provide power and heat for MRWMD’s use and be sold to the neighboring Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency. The SMARTFERM will also provide high-quality compost to local farms.
2014 Award Winner of the California Resource Recovery Association’s “Dave Hardy Leadership in Organics – Facility” category
Operations began in February 2013 and include:
- 4 x 40′ dry anaerobic digesters
- Up to 5,000 tons per year of organic waste throughput
- Containerized 100 kW combined heat & power system
- Package bio-filter and roof mounted external biogas storage bladder
- Separate enclosed and negatively aerated receiving bay
- 21-day batch process transforms waste into biogas and high quality digestate for compost
