Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, has started a six-month pilot program to recycle food leftovers into electricity, which can be fed to the local power grid. The program is expected to lead to recycling all discarded food from LAX, and is being watched by public agencies and municipalities nationwide for its potential to divert waste from landfills while simultaneously generating energy.
If successful, this program could prevent as much as 7,800 tons of food waste each year from being shipped to landfills.
Roger Johnson, deputy executive director for environmental affairs at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which owns and operates LAX, says that the food-waste recycling program potentially could be adopted by food processors and amusement parks.
To turn the food waste into energy, it is first mixed with water to create a slurry. This slurry is then fed to a tank and heated to break down the organic solid matter into methane gas and carbon dioxide. The methane gas is then piped off-site to a power generation plant, where it augments a portion of the plant’s fuel that is burned to create steam used in generating electricity. Any resulting excess electricity becomes part of the public power grid.
For more information, contact LAWA or the LA Department of Public Works Department.
