Recycling Plant Turns Wastewater into Biofuel

In the USA, BlackGold Biofuels, a Philadelphia-based company, has opened a new facility in Charlotte, North Carolina that will recycle wastewater from restaurants in the area into biofuel.

The feedstock for the facility comes from grease trap waste from local wastewater haulers generated in commercial and institutional kitchens during dishwashing and food preparation. The trash and food particles are separated from this wastewater. The state-of-the-art facility extracts and purifies the recovered oils to be used in the production of biofuels.

The recycling project is envisioned to help in reducing the dependence on petroleum-based fuels and the burden on the region's wastewater treatment plants. The project will also help in diverting grease trap wastes away from landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has listed blockages from grease as a leading cause of sanitary sewer overflows nationwide. Grease trap waste is often landfilled or spread on fields. As few facilities have the expensive infrastructure to convert this waste into biogas for energy use, much of this waste ends up in the sewer system.