Make no mistake, there have been significant advancements in food waste depackaging and separation equipment in recent years. 

The industry is moving away from first-generation equipment, which consisted of repurposed machines originally designed for MSW sorting, milling, pulping, paper, and card and shredding, and toward purpose-built models that are the result of many years of innovative design.

List Criteria: Depackaging and Separation Machines

We looked for the following characteristics in the listed equipment:

1. Acceptance of a diverse range of biowastes, ranging from OFMSW (Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste) to "Out of Specification." Food-processing-industry-related products
2. Off-the-shelf, tried-and-true designs are preferred over one-of-a-kind, custom-designed prototype equipment.
3. A process philosophy which avoids creating microplastics.

In contrast to suppliers who offer separate units for each function, such as bagging, the new generation of this equipmentis integrated and carries out multiple functions in a single process stage.

such as bag opening and shredding followed by separation and sometimes multiple other units

Suitability for the equipment to be used in conjunction with the anaerobic digestion process.

The best depackaging equipment will separate and capture organic packaging materials from food waste, and also separate and recycle as much of the reject material (e. g. plastics) as possible.

Subject to regulatory requirements, operators of the new generation of this equipment will be able to benefit from green credentials. These come from reclaiming the organic content of food waste and incorporating it into the highest purity quality, natural compost and sustainable soil products.

In the post CPO26 era, all businesses must not only act in a sustainable way but also make plans and publish targets to decarbonise their whole organisations by 2050 or earlier. One way to do this for any organisation which produces food waste, and even some other previously unused organic materials, is to carry out their own in-house depackaging and separation.

An example of government involvement in this process is the US Food Waste Management Program. This scheme is addressing a major issue of our time that directly affects the human and ecological balance of the environment. That is by reducing methane emissions while also creating renewable energy to displace the use of fossil fuels.

There is no doubt that climate change can be reduced by reducing food waste, and recycling more. Where unavoidable waste still occurs it makes sense to channel it back into the circular economy. 

Efficiently depackaging food waste is a key component in this area.

According to the USDA, food waste represents 30 % of all American food manufactured. This can be due primarily to over-consumption in the homes and subsequently. In food production, there are evidently still many wastes generated in even the most sophisticated manufacturing facilities.

We have compiled our waste depackaging and separation equipment supplier list as a resource for all organic waste/ biowaste processors in the hope that we can assist in the selection of the most suitable equipment for their purchasing decisions.

For our list go to our list of food waste depackaging and separation suppliers here.

   

New digester mixing technology has helped a prominent food waste-to-energy plant enhance its biogas production by an average of more than 43%.

Biogas yields have been improved by Landia and Hayley Group working together closely.

Hayley Group, an engineering component supplier, was consulted about the availability of an alternative, superior mixing system for its customer's second digester; mixers that, unlike those in the first tank, would eliminate typical biogas process problems such as foam, blocking, and crusting – and in doing so, help boost the levels of methane in the gas.

Hayley Group’s Engineer, Rob Bentley, said:

“We constantly look to help customers improve efficiencies. This project is of particular note because, with the new, superior mixing system, the increase per cubic metre in gas from the second digester is over 40%. This is extremely encouraging, to say the least, especially when you consider that the second digester also has 10% less capacity than the older first tank”.

Visit: www.blog.anaerobic-digestion.com/digester-mixing

   

We'll look at how much anaerobic digestion costs in general in this article. 

We also go over other basic rules of thumb to assist folks who are trying to figure out how much a biogas digester will cost in our main article here.

Capital Expense

Depending on the size of the facility and the technology employed, a commercial microbial anaerobic digester can cost anywhere from $400,000 to $5,000,000 to develop. An anaerobic digestion plant on a farm costs about $1.2 million dollars on average.

Operating Costs

In 2022, a medium-sized commercial on-farm digester with 250 cows will cost around $0.30 to run all-in. Electricity sales will bring in around half of that.

Upgrading to biomethane raises costs, but in the appropriate circumstances, it can pay for itself.

Profitability in power generating is dependent on additional revenue from sources such as:

Entrance fees

• Subsidies from the government
• Sales of digestate as a natural fertiliser (liquid and fibre), bedding material (fibre), and insulating product (fibre)
• On-farm or through delivery to a local greenhouse, business, or housing complex, combined heat and power (CHP) is used for home heating.

It is often possible to assure the profitability of a biogas plant by creative thinking and even by coming up with a unique "out-of-the-box" solution.

   

When compared to competitors, the Twister Food Waste Depackager and Separator is breaking into new markets thanks to its low microplastics output and low energy consumption.

Twister announced today that their innovative Food Waste Depackager and Separator has been purchased by new customers in Europe and Asia. In the increasing EU and Asian markets, the small-footprint, low-energy-use plastic waste reprocessing facility has established itself.

Since 2016, it has been in the works. It's a decentralised organic processing system with exceptional separation performance that was recently introduced in Canada.

Each opened, empty, and full box is ejected. The "Twister" effect produces clean food waste that is free of microplastics and suitable for anaerobic digestion.

"We wanted something distinctive for Drycake's Twister," explains Mark Vanderbeken, Chairman and Founder of Drycake®.

"Anyone familiar with the food waste depackaging industry will have noticed that everyone else looks to start their depackaging and separation of source-separated organics by reducing particle size." This is how most competing depackagers avoid congestion. They mill, macerate, cut, or shred the plastic to make it into little pieces. Larger pieces, on the other hand, are easier to separate than tiny ones, so why not combine the depackaging and separation processes?"

Food Waste Depackager Separator from Twister (TM)

So DryCake went back to the drawing board and came up with a method that doesn't require any cutting and isn't dependant on reducing particle size by processing plastic. In actuality, they use shear forces and vibration to open and remove biological matter in a high-speed vortex, causing as little injury as possible while making as little microplastics as possible.

As a result, it has established itself as a market leader in terms of sustainability by reducing the risk of environmental damage caused by plastic pollution. Due to rising evidence of "ocean microplastic ingestion," which is hurting ocean plankton and the food chain that sustains all marine life, Drycake adopted this course of action.

 

Slicing, bashing, and crushing these materials likewise consumes a lot of energy. Hammer mills, blades, and knife openers all have moving components that wear out and need to be replaced. As a result, the Twister only has a few moving parts.

"It must be preferred to avoid breaking up plastic wrapping wherever possible."

Mark continued, "Then you won't manufacture those microplastic particles in the first place."

As a result, Drycake predicted that this invention would be in high demand right away. This company has strong prospects to disrupt the market and become the industry-standard depackager provider in Europe and Asia, with considerable environmental benefits.

On the one hand, they want to provide their clients the option of running sustainable plastic recycling businesses, reprocessing garbage into resin for use in new packaging as part of the "circular economy," which is vital to averting runaway climate change. While also providing biogas facilities with a high-quality organic paste.

They may offer this mixture, or "organic soup," as feedstock to anaerobic digestion plant operators, allowing them to create renewable energy in the form of biogas refined to biomethane. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is compressed biomethane that may be injected into town and city gas mains to heat our homes.

It's also ideal for use as a low-emission transportation fuel throughout the transition to hydrogen technology.

Twister is also a novel concept, as its target market is larger than city/regional MRFs and ERFs (Energy Recovery Facilities/ Incinerators). The small size is ideal for several locations around a city, reducing RCV travel distances, lowering collecting costs and emissions, and improving food waste collection efficiency.

Waste collection employees will spend more time on the street collecting rubbish and less time sat in the cabs of their RCVs en route to the MRF ERF or transfer station as a result of the Twister unit distribution. Drycake will also design the entire process, as well as the facility, if necessary.

Twister's low energy use, low carbon footprint, simple maintenance, and high uptime are all features they wish to impress their clients with. It's a sound long-term investment that's also environmentally friendly.

In fact, supermarkets, organisations, and institutions that run catering facilities, as well as clients in the food and beverage industry, may discover that purchasing just one Twister unit will help them achieve their sustainability goals. As a consequence, their company's carbon footprint is reduced, and they may proudly showcase their really green achievements for years to come.

It's always a risk to try anything new, but they feel it's one worth taking. In this circumstance, not least to contribute to the global environment's preservation and to develop a product that would help in the attainment of Net-Zero Carbon 2050 emission targets.

How Twister, a vortex-based food waste depackager, Outperforms Rivals

Twister Food Waste Depackager technology accomplishes this in four different ways:

1. Combining two operations into a single unit to save energy and water.

2. Reducing dependency on fossil fuels (e.g., oil), which produce much more "greenhouse gas" carbon when things are made from virgin plastic resins instead of recycled.

3. By transforming food waste into a plastic-free paste or slurry that may be used to power a biogas plant, which provides sustainable energy while emitting very little net carbon dioxide. This eliminates the need to develop oil or gas geological deposits once more.

4. When organic slurry is digested and applied to agricultural land, it decreases carbon emissions by reducing the requirement for chemical fertilisers on the part of the farmer. Traditional fertilisers are derived from geological deposits. They need a lot of fossil fuel to extract and transport them, therefore this notion contributes even more to environmental preservation.

Conclusion on the Twister Food Waste Depackager

Drycake has been a global leader in separation solutions since 1995. Since its founding, it has provided market-disrupting process equipment and design for sustainable waste reuse, recycling, and energy recovery on a global scale.

This isn't the first time Drycake has gone against the grain. They previously made a splash with the Plastifloat, a waste reuse and materials recovery system for municipal and industrial wastewater. A straightforward yet effective method for extracting plastic from liquids.

Drycake has grown into Europe and Asia, in addition to previous sales in the Americas, and the Twister Food Waste Depackager is aiming for global recognition. More information may be found in the following article: Vortex Depackager and Separator by Twister

Visit https://www.twisterseparator.com for more details.

Also see https://drycake.com for more information.

   

 “Methane Mitigation” which can be defined as using the anaerobic digestion (i.e. biogas production process) to help humanity in the fight against climate change, is the core subject announced for the World Biogas Summit 6 -8 July 2021.

It will be “All About Methane”!

Find out more by reading the ADBA Press Release reproduced below:

International Energy Agency and Climate and Clean Air Coalition to headline the “It's all about the methane” World Biogas Summit 2021

This year's event held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic,  will focus on how, in the build-up to COP26,  AD and biogas can help reduce global methane and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.  In particular, it will explore the need to capture and recycle the 105bn tonnes of organic wastes generated by human activity every year – and turn these wastes into a valuable resource (1).

Entitled “It's all about the methane”, the 2021 Summit programme will review how to efficiently capture organic wastes, recover the gases and nutrients they contain and recycle them in the form of clean energy and natural fertilisers – achieving GHG emissions savings, displacing fossil-based equivalents, restoring soil health and helping reduce the carbon footprint of hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as heat, transport, agriculture and waste management – thus contributing to countries meeting their Net Zero targets.

Ahead of his address, CCAC's Drew Shindell said: “

Methane mitigation is one of the most significant climate actions the world can take this decade. There are cost-effective solutions that can be implemented immediately, and the benefits far outweigh the costs. The world needs to make 2021 a ‘methane moment,’ by committing to implement policies and measures to rapidly reduce methane emissions and working to drive a decade of methane action.”

There's no Net Zero without Biogas: ending waste, delivering the circular economy, tackling the climate crisis.