Food Matters Study Tour in Milan - Day 3

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Day 3

The third day we split into two groups, one focused on food rescue and the second focused on reuse. I was in the second group and we had a busy day of driving around the region. We visited an anaerobic digestion facility, which had only been open a couple months.The main input is residential food scraps and they use yard waste as a bulking agent. They accept all types of food waste, even raw meat and bones. 

First, machines squeeze out the liquids from the food waste, then compost the remaining solids. Italy has favorable incentives for bio-methane. The gas goes into the high-pressured gas lines to be used as part of the electric market. For the compost, they are testing different uses, such as a green roof medium. Waste sent to waste to energy is required to have a certain calorific value. We then visited a compost facility which was very large and impressive. It was a good day, even with the smells and the heat. 









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