NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah (KUTV) — A new facility by Wasatch Resource Recovery (WRR) is working to capture bad methane gases before they’re released into the atmosphere from organic waste we create and turn it into energy.

“We hear about our carbon footprint a lot, food waste is big on our methane footprint,” said Morgan Bowerman of WRR.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is damaging to the air. About 20 percent more potent then CO2 – and it’s released by organic waste created by Utahns.

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NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah — A new facility in North Salt Lake will soon transform thousands of tons of food waste into natural gas, providing clean energy while keeping methane from contributing to climate change.

Wasatch Resource Recovery is a public-private partnership between the South Davis Sewer District and ALPRO Energy and Water.

The plant, which begins operations next week, has contracts with grocery stores, government agencies, restaurants, manufacturers and other food-related businesses and agencies to take in excess food.

Read the full Fox13 article here!

Wasatch Resource Recovery will be the first food waste anaerobic digester in Utah. The project, based in North Salt Lake, expects to be fully operational in fall 2018, and Morgan Olsen Bowerman, sustainability and resource recovery manager at Wasatch Resource Recovery, can’t wait.

Olsen Bowerman oversees the sourcing of food waste from restaurants, grocery stores, food manufacturers, distribution centers and other companies to encourage them to partner with Wasatch Resource Recovery to divert their food waste from landfill. She feels excited to be part of this pioneering, statewide initiative.

She also does community outreach about how to manage food waste, and she is president of the Utah Recycling Alliance.

Olsen Bowerman, who is a 2018 Waste360 40 Under 40 award recipient, spoke to Waste360 about her passion for recycling, including the project she initiated and managed in Uganda and her work with Wasatch Resource Recovery.

Read the full Waste360 article here!

Earth Day is right around the corner and if you are looking for ways to get involved or reduce your footprint, look no further than the fridge. According to the United Sates Department of Agriculture, up to 60 percent of food waste occurs in households and businesses. While composting is an option for some of that waste, there may be other uses for your stale doughnuts and banana peels.

“We like to say we can take the full plate. Sometimes compost facilities are really picky on what they can take, what can be composted. Often they’ll take fruit and veggies scraps, maybe some eggshells, some coffee grounds,” said Morgan Bowerman, resource recovery and sustainability manager for Wasatch Resource Recovery. “We on the other hand, can take all of the rest of the stuff. So we’ll do the fruit and veggie scraps, but we can also do the meat, the dairy and the oil.”

Listen here on NPR!

North Salt Lake • State and local officials broke ground for Utah’s first food digester Thursday morning in a project aimed at reducing landfill waste and harnessing unused renewable energy.

The North Salt Lake facility, to be opened in late 2018, will deploy anaerobic digesters to grind and liquify food waste, then use water, heat and bacteria to convert it into methane gas to be used as natural gas and bio-solids to be converted into fertilizer.

The project, called Wasatch Resource Recovery, is a cooperative partnership between Salt Lake City-based ALPRO Energy & Water and the South Davis Sewer District and will enlist Utah businesses statewide to send their food waste to the facility.

Read the full Salt Lake Tribune article here!