Roughly 19 months after breaking ground on construction, the state-of-the-art renewable energy plant from Massachusetts-based technology company Divert Inc. has finally opened. 

The facility began operations on Nov. 21 and held an official ribbon-cutting on Wednesday. It is the 11th plant built in the United States by Divert, which was founded in 2007 by CEO Ryan Begin and COO Nick Whitman. They have a goal of opening 30 by 2031.

“It has taken us 17 years to absolutely perfect food waste recycling. And what you're going to see here today is that perfection,” Begin said at Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This facility here in Turlock is the first of its kind in this state, and it represents a critical step in achieving our broader mission. The opening of this state-of-the-art facility is a key part to our expansion as we scale to 30 locations across this country by the end of 2031. This is a first major step in making that happen.”

The Turlock location is by far the largest scale. Located at 4407 W. Main St., adjacent to the Turlock Moose Lodge and the Country Store, the facility is 65,000 square-feet and employs 40.

“The City of Turlock is proud to celebrate the opening of Divert’s new facility, which is already delivering on the promise to create new jobs and drive economic growth for our community,” said Amy Bublak, Mayor of Turlock. “Our city has been a longtime supporter of Divert and this project, which builds on Turlock’s existing agricultural and manufacturing strengths, solidifies our appeal as a place where you can live, work and raise your family. The future is bright for Divert in Turlock, and we look forward to continuing to work together to support the company’s progress against the wasted food crisis in California.”

While several states have taken steps to reduce carbon emissions over the past decade, California has seen the most sweeping legislation, particularly in the form of SB 1383, signed into law in 2016 by then-governor Jerry Brown to establish a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants in various sectors of California's economy, including  the food and retail industry. Beginning in 2022, the law required every jurisdiction to provide organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses. Additionally, businesses had to begin collecting, sorting and transferring organic waste to a specified composting facility, community composting program or other collection activity or program.

Divert’s business model entails retailers paying the facility to take in and process the food waste. From there, the process of sorting food and turning waste into renewable energy begins.

According to employees, the Turlock facility expects to take in about 100,000 tons of food waste each year and will have a steady flow of trucks dropping off unused food every 30 minutes. Divert has entered partnerships with 8,000 grocery stores from across the nation, including retailers like Target, Save Mart, Safeway, CVS, Kroger and Albertsons, as well as local processing plants like Blue Diamond Growers and California Dairies. Retail drop-offs in Turlock come from locations throughout the state.

After trucks drop off unsold food, employees at the Turlock facility will separate the waste from its packaging, before sending it to be liquefied, purified and processed into a slurry. Ammonia sulfate removed from liquefaction and purification processes can be sold as a fertilizer ingredient. As for the slurry, it’s then pumped directly into an on-site, anaerobic, 3.5 million-gallon digester, where it is turned into biogas — a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. The equipment then removes impurities from the biogas and upgrades it into pipeline quality Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) to meet utility company standards.

Prior to their April groundbreaking, Divert had partnered with PG&E. They have installed an on-site transmission line. The RNG enters the line, replacing fossil fuel gas with a carbon negative renewable fuel to supply homes and businesses. 

The effort has been applauded by members of the current gubernatorial administration of Gavin Newsom. California State Treasurer Fiona Ma attended the groundbreaking last year, and Zoe Heller, Director of CalRecycle, spoke at Wednesday’s grand opening.

“Keeping food scraps and other organic material from creating methane in landfills is critical to California’s climate fight,” Heller said. “When California reaches its organics recycling and food recovery targets, we will cut three million cars worth of climate pollution each year and move our state closer to the waste-free future that our children deserve.”

As of now, only about 1% of PG&E’s energy comes from low-carbon sources like Divert’s RNG, which is enough to power about 3,000 homes, though they aim to increase the percentage to 15% by 2030.

“PG&E remains committed to achieving a clean, decarbonized net-zero energy system by 2040, and the opportunity to collaborate with innovators and changemakers like Divert is essential to achieving this goal,” said Austin Hastings, Vice President, PG&E Gas Engineering. “We are excited to work with Divert to increase the volume of clean, California-produced, renewable natural gas flowing through PG&E’s pipeline system.”

Begin also mentioned that, during the separation process, they will set aside items that are still edible and donate them to local food banks. They have partnerships with the Alameda County Community Food Bank and Manteca-based Second Harvest of the Greater Valley. Donations of holiday meals were made by project stakeholders and guests to the Alameda County Community Food Bank during Wednesday’s ceremony.

“We’re proud to partner with Divert in our efforts to prevent food waste and increase food recovery in our stores,” said Karl Schroeder, Division President of Safeway Northern California. “Our partnership allows us to better serve our customers by reducing waste, supporting local food banks, and providing more opportunities to help our neighbors in need access fresh, nutritious food.”

It’s what Begin described as “a better way forward.”

“Today, we service nearly 8,000 customers nationwide. These are 8,000 grocery stores across this country that have decided they're no longer going to throw food into the landfill,” he said, referring to the fact that the United States alone generates more than 100 million tons of food waste annually, with over 50% going to landfills or incinerators. “There is a better way, and we're providing that better way for them.”