The City of Phoenix has recently partnered with the company, Palm Silage, Inc. out of California to turn the city’s palm waste into edible pellets. After monsoon storms, the damage needs to be cleaned up and hauled away. Palm tree waste has a second life after it is picked up in Phoenix — it is likely the waste will be turned into food for livestock.

In the past, all of this would have been sent to the landfill. “[Palm fronds] are kind of tricky, composters, mulchers don’t really like it. It’s a fibrous kind of difficult, kind of difficult to process material,” said Stacy Hettmansperger, City of Phoenix Public Works operations manager. Once it’s dried out and ground down, it’s actually a good source of nutrients for livestock like goats, cattle and horses.

Palm Silage, Inc. already collects palm waste from landscapers and date plantations, but the City of Phoenix is the first municipality it’s contracted with. In 2016, the company signed a 30-year deal with Phoenix, leasing an unused piece of land within the 27th Avenue transfer station. In April of this year, they accepted their first collection. Already, they’ve piled up 2,400 tons of palm waste.

The City is paying Palm Silage Inc. to take it off their hands, rather than hauling it 50 miles to the landfill. The move could soon save the City $170,000 a year once they’re running at full capacity.

Read the full story at http://www.azfamily.com/story/38854652/phoenix-palm-tree-debris-has-a-second-life-as-livestock-feed.

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