Massachusetts food disposal ban celebrated at Barstow Farm in Hadley, where cows produce biogas

HADLEY — Massachusetts officials brought their "Food Waste Ban Full Harvest Tour" to Hadley on Friday with a visit to Barstow's Longview Farm, the site of an innovative waste-to-energy project.

The farm’s anaerobic digester takes manure and food waste and converts it into methane gas, which in turn powers a 300-kilowatt on-site generator. Most of the electricity produced is sold to the grid, and the rest powers the dairy farm operation. The by-product of the fermentation process is used as fertilizer.

Friday's outdoor gathering marked the kickoff of a commercial food waste ban in Massachusetts landfills. Starting Oct. 1, businesses and institutions producing more than one ton of food waste per week were no longer able to just throw it away. The waste must be diverted or repurposed – sent, for instance, to composting facilities, food banks, farms for livestock feed, or to anaerobic digesters like the one at Barstow's.

MassDEP Commissioner David Cash called the food waste ban a “win-win-win-win-win-win” situation. He said it would reduce waste, save money on disposal costs, create renewable energy, cut emissions from fossil fuel use, grow jobs, and stimulate the economy.

Agriculture commissioner Greg Watson said the waste ban provides opportunities for farm families like the Barstows and other entrepreneurs.

Watson said the anaerobic digester project is “full of synergies,” coordinating energy, environment, food and economic development goals. As an example, the fertilizer from digesters could rebuild soil within cities, where urban agriculture projects are springing up, he said.

Steve Barstow said he was proud to be a seventh-generation farmer on the land. The dairy farm maintains 475 cows, he said, and ships 30,000 pounds of milk every other day. The farm is part of the Cabot-Agrimark cooperative, which runs a butter creamery in West Springfield.

“Our cows provide both the cream and the electricity to churn their own butter,” said Barstow.

As part of the deal, the Agrimark creamery has access to the electricity produced at Longview Farm. Waste from the creamery is then returned to the biodigester, completing the cycle.

The extra heat produced by the facility is used to control temperature within the dairy barns, said Barstow. “That means we have happy cows.”  It also heats homes on the farmstead.

Barstow said the project, which went on line earlier this year, is producing cash flow by selling electricity and charging tipping fees.  He said the digester is at capacity for the volume of waste it processes, and that he's thinking of doubling the size of the generator.

The $3 million anaerobic digester works (pdf) by breaking down organic materials within a closed system with the help of microbes. The result is an energy-creating biogas.

Bill Jorgenson is with BGreen Energy, the company that shepherded the digester project from start to finish. The project has various stakeholders, he said, with Casella Waste Systems running the facility. BGreen has one digester up and running in Rutland, with a third in the works.

Cash said the Patrick administration worked with businesses, institutions, compost facilities, farmers, food banks and others to make sure there was a “market” for all the diverted food waste in Massachusetts before going live with the disposal ban on Wednesday.

The new policy affects approximately 1,700 businesses and institutions, including supermarkets, colleges and universities, hotels, convention centers, hospitals and nursing homes, large restaurants and food service and processing companies. It does not affect residences.

Jed Davis, Director of Sustainability for Agrimark-Cabot, said the waste ban should not be seen as a burdensome regulation, but as an opportunity.

“It’s now open season for innovation in repurposing waste,” he said.

Biogas is cleaned of Hydrogen Sulfide in the biological scrubbing tanks.

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