Organics to Landfills

The amount of organic waste generated in the U.S. is increasing every year. According to US EPA records food scraps were 12.4% of the total volume going into landfills for 2006. Yet, organic wastes can provide renewable energy if processed in a Schmack biogas system. In fact, if the 31,000,000 tons of food waste that is landfilled each year were used in a Schmack biogas system, over 1.25 Gigawatts of power would be produced annually. That’s enough to power 1,825,000 homes each year. That is Schmack’s beneficial use.

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/06data.pdf

Sewage Solids Disposal

US wastewater treatment plants produce over 7,100,000 tons of sewage sludge annually. 

	55% was applied to land
	28.3% was landfilled
	14.8% was incinerated
	1.8% other (lagoons or composted)

Schmack can use sewage solids (“biosolids) as fuel to produce renewable energy.  Rather than paying a landfill to dump biosolids into a landfill, municipalities can divert these volumes to a Schmack system.  The municipality lowers the costs of disposal, and the system produces renewable energy, composted soil amendments, and clean water.  That is Schmack beneficial use.

Industrial Food Manufacturing

Often food manufacturing facilities must install elaborate water treatment systems to reduce the volume of organics in their wastewater (these organics are called BOD: biological oxygen demand).  Schmack has partnered with GE Water & Process Technologies to introduce energy production as a part of these water treatment systems.  In this way, Schmack makes it easier for food manufactures to comply with environmental regulations.  And by lowering water treatment costs, Schmack makes it easier to keep factory jobs and food production local. That is Schmack beneficial use.

Farm Manure

The US EPA estimates that there are more than 7,000 farms which have more the 700 cows or 2,000 hogs.  Currently, most of these farms store their manure in lagoon pits until the weather permits them to spread the manure on their fields.  Often this land application leads to pathogen run-off into local waterways, and creates odor problems for the community. Schmack can use farm manure as fuel to produce renewable energy.  Rather than spreading raw manure in the local ecosystem, farms can divert the manure into a Schmack system.  The result is renewable energy, liquid effluent that is both odorless and an improved fertilizer (converted to inorganic nutrients which are more plant available).  And the farm can use the solids output for improved animal bedding.  That is Schmack beneficial use.