GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The ribbon was cut on a $169 million Resource Recovery and Electrical Energy project in Green Bay on Tuesday.
The project, which is being led by the Green Bay Metro Sewerage District, has been ten years in the making.
“NEW WATER” reads across the two towers that make up the plant, which utilizes a technical process called anaerobic digestion.
The end goal of the activity is to turn waste into fertilizer and electricity.
Previously, solids from waste were simply turned to ash and then taken to a landfill. This new process will extract some of the nutrients to use and then reuse.
“We have a very similar end product in the form of ash that goes to a landfill but during the course of treatment now we’re recovering energy, generating electricity and recovering nutrients,” director of technical services Nathan Qualls, told Fox 11 News.
The process is also a more eco-friendly decision.
“The phosphorus recovery won’t be going out into the bay,” Thomas Sigmund, NEW Water executive director, told Fox 11 News.
NEW Water officials state the new process is expected to reduce 22,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, which equates to nearly 15,000 less vehicles on the road.
The combination of energy cost savings and the profit of selling fertilizer will ultimately reduce rates for customers.
