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(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Wastewater Treatment Plant is showing off a new technology that is turning food waste into green energy.

St. Cloud is the demonstration site for the new de-packaging unit which was bought with a grant donated to the Tri-County Solid Waste Commission. St. Cloud isĀ one of the first to pilot the use of a de-packaging unit. Public Services Director Tracy Hodel says it’s very simple in that, “You drop the food into the unit and it actually takes out all the packaging material out of it. So then, what we have left is two things, we have the garbage, the plastics and those types of things that the food is in, and then, we have a slurry of food products.”

That slurry is fed into the system’s digester and used to make energy.

The project is aimed at is taking prepackaged food from grocery stores and keeping it out of the landfill by turning it into green energy. She says statistics show nearly 18% of landfill is from food waste.

The city hopes to get prisons, schools and other stores to donate food.

“We’ve had that up and running for about four weeks and we’re excited to share with everybody what is working and what we’ve learned with it so far.”

The open house is Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the wastewater treatment plant. She says the open house will include a presentation and words from local lawmakers.

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