Marathon begins manufacture of anaerobic digestion plants

Marathon Equipment Company has furthered their commitment to finding innovative ways to extract renewable economic value from waste through a new strategic partnership with Zero Waste Energy of Lafayette, California.

Through this exclusive partnership, announced in April (2012) Marathon will manufacture anaerobic digestion (AD) systems for Zero Waste Energy and both companies will collaborate on synergistic waste-to-energy market development and sales activities, like providing renewable CNG for refuse collection applications targeting the global waste handling customers of Environmental Solutions Group, of which Marathon is a part.

Marathon is known throughout the world as a leading manufacturer of on-site waste compaction and recycling systems. According to Geoff Apthorp, vice president of engineering and business development for Environmental Solutions Group, “We are thrilled about our new partnership with Zero Waste Energy. We pride ourselves on using innovation to help our customers find best-in-class, value-added solutions for their unmet solid waste needs. Working with Zero Waste Energy, one of the most forward-thinking and creative companies in our key markets, is another way in which we can globally offer customers both the latest organic waste technology and local customer support.”

Zero Waste Energy designs, builds, and operates integrated solid waste facilities throughout North America. They recover material for recycling and reuse while transforming organic waste into green renewable energy through an innovative and proprietary, anaerobic digestion, dry fermentation process via their SMARTFERM system.

Anaerobic digestion is an environmentally safe biological process that takes place when naturally occurring microorganisms break down organic material in the absence of oxygen, resulting in the release of methane and carbon dioxide, the main ingredients in biogas. This biogas can then be collected in air-tight tanks and processed through a combined heat and power engine to produce cost-competitive renewable electricity.

Alternatively, AD biogas can also be further cleaned and processed into fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), which is becoming the fuel of choice for transport equipment such as buses and garbage trucks. At the end of the digestion cycle, a material commonly refered to as digestate is produced and generally allowed to mature for a few weeks before being screened, blended, and prepared for use and sale as high-quality compost.

“We are very excited to have selected a strong industry leader like Marathon as our partner for manufacturing our SMARTFERM plants,” says Eric Herbert, CEO of Zero Waste Energy. “Marathon is known for their expertise in manufacturing complex systems and this partnership provides Zero Waste Energy with an enhanced ability to reliably develop anaerobic systems using proven best practices. We are proud to have a U.S. manufacturer making these revolutionary organic waste treatment plants in the United States, and we are looking forward to the new innovations this partnership will enable us to jointly offer our customers.”