The City of Brentwood could begin the first step in a multi-year process towards developing a high diversion organics operating facility. The city council took up the item where they were asked to approve a memorandum of understanding with Anergia Services to investigate the facility to assist the city meet requirements to the organic waste disposal as required with SB 1383. If the technology is determined to be a “good solution” for Brentwood, this could be a fee for service arrangement with no capital outlay, or it could be a $40 million project financed by grants, loans, or bond funding. The project feasibility analysis will explore the various options
From 2016-2020, the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) worked to develop regulations to achieve the goals of SB 1383. These new regulations were finalized by CalRecycle in November 2020. Like all other cities in California, Brentwood is required to find an alternative disposal method for the organic portion of waste found in garbage. A promising technological solution has been developed by Anaergia, which involves mechanically separating organics from mixed solid waste collections. Staff is requesting adoption of a resolution authorizing the City to enter into an MOU with Anaergia, which outlines and guides the process to determine if a project is technologically and economically feasible.