Food Waste to Methane

West Lafayette, Region #9

Purdue University and the West Lafayette Wastewater Treatment Plant have teamed up to power the local water treatment plant with methane generated by food waste from the university's food courts and dining halls. Food scraps from more than 100,000 meals are ground each week into five tons of a cole slaw-like pulp, also called yack. The pulp is trucked to the West Lafayette Wastewater Treatment plant where an anaerobic digestor breaks it into methane to power two electric generators. Purdue saves on tipping fees at the landfill. And the Wastewater treatment plant gains power. Producing methane from waste material saves West Lafayette $30,000 in electrical costs per year.

Contact Information: 

Dave Henderson 765-775-5100 http://www.westlafayette.in.gov/department/division.php?fDD=11-185