Rialto Bioenergy Facility, LLC (Rialto) received a $4 million grant from the Organics Grants program to fund the installation of an anaerobic digester and a freezer to salvage food that would otherwise go to the landfill. These will both be important to the operational success of Rialto’s new Southern California facility, which is expected to recycle 300,000 tons of organic waste from the region annually.
Organics moving into equipment
Rialto’s three million gallon anaerobic digester will be located in its new facility and will be able to convert 300 tons of food waste into 4.2 megawatts of renewable biopower every day. About one-fourth of this energy will be used on site, and the rest will be exported to the power grid. The project will also produce 30,660 tons per year of marketable, dry fertilizer pellets from the solid residuals produced from the anaerobic digestion process. Overall, this project will prevent the emission of 22,630 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by offsetting the use of fossil fuels.
Additionally, a new 90 ton capacity freezer in Redlands will assist Helping Hands Pantry, a food rescue partner of Rialto, with its efforts to feed food-insecure residents. This project will support the rescue of up to 3,276 tons per year of frozen food that would otherwise be sent to the landfill and will help support 14 new full‑time, permanent jobs that will be available to the area’s disadvantaged and low‑income communities.