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NEW MSW AND ORGANICS RECYCLING FACILITY IN SANTA BARBARA TO BOOST DIVERSION RATE BY 60 PERCENT
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recyclingproductnews.com | JULY/AUGUST 2021
The Tajiguas landfill in Santa Barbara, California, recently held the grand opening of its new recycling and waste management facility. The new ReSource Center will allow the county to truck in and process its own municipal and organic waste, turning it into recyclables and renewable energy, rather than to landfill. The new ReSource Center brings in 600 to 700 tons of waste per day, including around 150 to 180 tons of recyclables, and is expected to boost the county’s diversion rate by 60 percent, to a total rate of 85 percent. The facility’s new MRF equipment and recycling technology was supplied by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions and includes size reducers for liberating bags, 3D trommels, anti-wrapping screens, air density separators, elliptical separators, 11 optical sorters to identify recyclables by composition, and a high-capacity baler from Bollegraaf Recycling Solutions. In addition to recyclables, the ReSource Center is also recovering organic material such as food scraps and other wet, heavy material which makes up around 40 to 45 percent of the county’s total waste generated. Once recovered, this waste is transferred up to the anaerobic digester on site, where it is dumped into heated tunnels and sealed airtight. It is then pumped with a mixture of 97 percent water and 3 percent cattle manure to start the digestion process. The natural bacteria in the manure breaks down the organic waste to produce methane gas. The methane gas is then harnessed to create renewable electricity that is sold back to Southern California’s primary electricity supply company. The electricity produced is enough to power the Resource Center itself, as well as about 1,000 to 1,200 homes.
