Southern Colorado town receives $200,000 from EPA for project to process food waste, reduce methane emissions
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has approved funding for a project in the Alamosa County town of Mosca that will divert food and other organic waste from landfills.
The EPA says that food waste in landfills is a major source of methane that impacts climate change to a greater degree than carbon dioxide, and that methane produces 20 % to 25% more gas that carbon dioxide.
"And the even greater impact is all of the greenhouse gas emissions produced in getting that good food to our plates," said EPA spokeswoman Virginia Till. "So we're wasting all of the resources, as well."
A survey this summer by Forbes magazine found that up to 40% of food waste in the U.S. is wasted and ends up in landfills; much of it is produced by major companies that can use discarded food as a tax write-off.
Methane contributes to global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere over long periods of time.
According to an EPA release, the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition will receive $200,000 for the installation of a high-efficiency anaerobic digestion system to be built by a member of the coalition, the Valley Roots Food Hub.
The system will convert methane into hydrogen fuel for energy and create a nutrient-rich material that can be used as fertilizer.
Mosca's award is part of $2 million allocated for 11 similar projects across the nation; the agency is providing half that amount to underserved communities and prioritizing projects that benefit minorities and vulnerable populations such as children and senior citizens.
The project is the first of its kind in Colorado, and is expected to become operational early next year; the Food Hub will receive funding for two years and is required to submit a final report to the EPA afterward.
"It spoke right to us exactly, and I'm really excited just to see the art of the practice advance a little bit with what we're going to do here, and it's really going to set a precedent," said Nick Chambers, general manager of the Food Hub. "I think it's really going to open it up for other people to engage at various levels."
The U.S. has a goal of cutting methane emissions in half by 2030.
Chambers has already built smaller, similar systems in the area and said there are other ways people can decrease food waste and landfills.
"You can compost it, you can donate it, you can feed it to animals and you can simply prevent wasting it," he said.
