News

ANNOUNCEMENTS

VerdeXchange Conference
January 27-29, 2019
Los Angeles, CA
https://www.verdexchange.org/

Compost 2019
January 28-31, 2019
Phoenix, AZ
https://compostconference.com/

Zero Waste Symposium 2019
February 12, 2019
San Diego, CA
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zero-waste-symposium-2019-tbd-registration-43335411382

Rethink Methane Symposium
February 26-27, 2019
Sacramento, CA
https://rethinkmethane.org/

Biomass Conference & Expo
March 18-20, 2019
Savannah, GA
http://www.biomassconference.com/ema/DisplayPage.aspx?pageId=Home

NEWS

Brightmark Energy Announces Major Investment in Nation''s First Commercial-Scale Plastics-to-Fuel Plant
Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based renewable energy development company, has invested $10 million in a groundbreaking plastics-to-fuel technology company, RES Polyflow, while committing to an additional $47 million investment in the first commercial-scale plant to utilize this technology, which will be located in Indiana.The plant will have the annual capacity to process 100,000 tons of plastic into 18 million gallons of low-sulfur diesel. To read more, click here.

Why Co-locate Compost and Anaerobic Digestion?
Six years ago, North Monterey County''s landfill became the first California site to set up a dry anaerobic digestion (AD) plant and the first landfill to co-locate anaerobic digestion and composting in one place. The project processes about 40,000 tons of source separated yard waste and more than 6,000 tons of food waste per year. In addition to biogas, AD produces high volumes of digestate, which is composted onsite or at another compost facility in Gilroy. To read more, click here.

Emerson, AT&T Partner to Put Food Waste to Better Use
Emerson and AT&T have partnered to enhance Emerson''s Grind2Energy system, an industrial food grinder that turns food scraps from commercial kitchens into a nutrient-rich slurry, using sensors and an online dashboard developed by AT&T. In the past year, customers used the system to divert about 7,400 tons of food waste from landfills and produce 1.3 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity and 420 tons of fertilizer. To read more, click here.

Greenbelt Initiates CBE Project to Produce Bioethanol for CBD Extraction
Greenbelt Resources Corporation has announced commencing Phase 1 of the "California BioEthanol Project," a three-phased initiative to convert Greenbelt''s Commercial Scale Testing Facility into a commercial-scale production biorefinery. Upon Phase 1 completion, the biorefinery will produce approximately 1.37 million pounds of protein concentrate and 75,000 gallons per year of bioethanol from food waste from local businesses, such as breweries and wineries. To read more, click here.

Former Fibrominn Site May Again Produce bioenergy in Benson
Brightmark Energy, based in San Francisco, California, is bidding to purchase a former power plant site in the city of Benson, California with intentions of developing a refinery to produce biogas. Animal and plant wastes from area farms would be used to produce renewable natural gas (RNG). Brightmark Energy hopes to connect to an interstate pipeline to sell RNG to purchasers in California.  To read more, click here.

POLICY & LEGISLATION 

Senate Bill 1383 Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Emissions Reductions Rulemaking
CalRecycle staff will recommend approval to begin the formal rulemaking process for the Proposed Organic Waste Reduction Regulations to implement the requirements of Senate Bill 1383 (2016). SB 1383 requires California to reduce organic waste disposal 50 percent below 2014 levels by 2020 and 75 percent by 2025. To review the proposed regulations, click here.  

Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment for Proposed Regulation for Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: Organic Waste Methane Emissions
CalRecycle prepared a Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) to analyze the anticipated implementation costs of the Proposed Regulation for Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: Organic Waste Methane Emissions, being developed pursuant to SB 1383. Achieving this requirement will demand a collective response by the state, jurisdictions, haulers, recyclers, businesses, consumers, and residents along with significant capital investments to expand the states organic waste recycling infrastructure. To read this report, click here. 

Enhancing Organic Materials Management by Improving Coordination, Increasing Incentives & Expediting Decision-Making
The California Environmental Protection Agency prepared a report pursuant to Assembly Bill 1045 (2015) that provides information and recommendations to promote the development of policies and actions to help expedite the siting and building of organic materials management infrastructure. The report encourages a continuing and important conversation with the public, industry, and local governments to promote organic material management. To read this report, click here.