New processes include composting, anaerobic digestion and CHP production.
The Board of County Supervisors in Prince William County, Virginia, have authorized an agreement with
Freestate Farms LLC, a Northern Virginia-based agricultural services and production company, to construct and operate a facility to process yard waste, food scraps and wood waste at the county’s Balls Ford Road composting facility, and to provide organics waste management services at that site and at the county’s landfill.
When fully developed, the Freestate facility will recycle more than 80,000 tons per year of organic waste into compost, soil products and non-synthetic fertilizers. It also will generate baseload renewable energy and environmental attributes and will produce sustainable and locally grown fruits and vegetables.
When construction on the facility is complete, around July 2017, Freestate and its technology partners will perform several new operations and double the throughput capacity of the current Balls Ford Road facility.
New processes/operations include:
- Advanced aerobic composting of yard waste – A reversing aerated static pile composting system will process leaves, grass and agricultural waste to produce nutrient-rich compost products. Process odors will be captured and scrubbed through biofilters.
- Anaerobic digestion of food waste – A fully enclosed and airtight tank reactor will process food waste and other organic material (e.g., fats, oil and grease) into both nutrient-rich fertilizer products and biogas (methane) for use in renewable energy applications.
- Combined heat and power production (CHP) – Raw biogas produced during the anaerobic digestion process will fuel a combined heat and power generator set to provide heat and power to the Balls Ford Road facility, with surplus renewable energy available for off-site uses, potentially including transportation fuel.
- Greenhouse operation - Freestate will construct and operate an integrated commercial-scale controlled environment agriculture greenhouse at the Balls Ford Road site to grow local produce using the renewable energy, compost and fertilizer products generated on-site.
The Freestate facility is designed to provide several benefits to the county, including:
- A long-term solution to yard and food waste management;
- A foundation for developing a comprehensive county organic waste management program;
- increased organics processing capacity;
- waste diversion that will extend landfill life (based upon the most recent county waste audit, about 30 percent of the waste entering the landfill is organic material that could be recycled);
- an increased county recycling rate; and
- private investment in the community and 20-25 new jobs.
Under the agreement, Freestate will process the organics currently received at the composting site and landfill facilities using existing processes beginning July 1, 2015. The county stresses there will be no interruption in current services because construction of the new facility will be phased in over a two-year period, which will allow sufficient space for the existing operations to continue. The term of the agreement is 20 years with the option to extend for two five-year periods.
A Solid Waste Citizen Advisory Group was kept informed and educated throughout the procurement process. Following a full briefing of the proposed agreement prior to going to the Board of County Supervisors, the group offered its unanimous support for the agreement.