(KNSI) — St. Cloud got a chance to show off its pilot project using a de-packaging machine that helps turn food that would otherwise go to waste into green energy.

More than 50 representatives from cities and counties around the state showed up at the St. Cloud Wastewater Treatment Facility for Tuesday’s open house to learn more about the pilot program.

St. Cloud Utilities Water Quality specialist Shanna Czeck says in the four weeks since the machine has been used, they have found a few foods that pose some issues.

“With this piece of equipment, we found that if we have something that congeals like oatmeal or flour, that that can be hard to process. So once it hits liquid, it becomes hard to handle.”

She says the wastewater facility will continue to tinker with the de-packaging machine through the summer to learn how much green energy the unit will help produce.

“St. Cloud is looking at how much biogas production we can expect from this type of food waste. We’re also looking to see how it handles solid waste. We want to know how it feeds and then, if there’s any contamination.”

She says St. Cloud is also looking at the economic feasibility of the machine, how much labor it takes to use, the cost, fuel consumption, and then how much energy can be produced.

St. Cloud is contracted by the Tri-County Solid Waste Commission to handle the organic waste in the region. Right now, St. Cloud gets its food waste for the machine from CashWise Grocery, Coborn’s, CentraCare Health, and Costco. St. Cloud hopes to add more partners in the future.

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