Committee hears $10 million request for anaerobic digester to process metro food waste

Representative Tim Johnson introduced House File 701, requesting $10 million in state assistance toward a $100 million anaerobic digestion facility meant to process food waste from Ramsey and Washington counties and other interested jurisdictions.

The measure would support construction of an anaerobic digester that backers say would add about 75,000 tons per year of organic-processing capacity, produce renewable natural gas (RNG) sufficient to heat about 2,500 homes annually, and generate roughly 8,000 tons of biochar each year. Washington County Commissioner Fran Miron, vice chair of the Ramsey–Washington Recycling and Energy Board, told the committee that “organics, such as discarded food scraps, make up over 20% of the collected trash.”

Miron and Bill Keegan, president of Demcon Companies, described how the project fits into recent county efforts to expand household food-scrap collection. Miron said the board has launched a food-scrap pickup program…