Kompogas SLO Inc. received $3 million through the Organics Grants program to build a high-solids anaerobic digester, to be known as the Lancaster Organic Waste Facility, at the existing Lancaster Landfill and Recycling Center in Antelope Valley. With this new anaerobic digester, Kompogas SLO Inc. will be able to process residential food and green waste collected by Waste Management Inc. throughout Antelope Valley, including in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, and turn it into renewable natural gas and high-grade compost.
The digester system is expected to divert roughly 25,000 tons per year of landfilled food waste and 54,000 tons per year of landfilled green waste. Kompogas SLO Inc. will inject the resulting renewable natural gas into the Southern California Gas Company pipeline to fuel natural gas vehicles, displacing about 1.7 million diesel gallon equivalents per year. Kompogas SLO Inc. also will provide free compost, a byproduct of the digestion process, to low-income communities, and sell the compost to other local residents, farmers, and businesses.
The project is expected to generate 46 temporary engineering, design, and construction jobs during the construction period and 17 new long-term operations jobs once the facility becomes operational. These jobs will be available for the lifetime of the facility and will be high paying with benefits. Kompogas SLO Inc. will seek to hire from local communities, targeting priority populations.
As part of this project, Kompogas SLO Inc. also signed community benefit agreements with South Antelope Valley Emergency Services and Antelope Valley Partners for Health to support local hiring strategies and to provide services to local low-income communities. Both community organizations will receive funds to provide annual scholarships for local students pursuing environmental-related careers; support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education through science projects in local schools; and develop an on-site education center. Kompogas SLO Inc. will also provide South Antelope Valley Emergency Services with a refrigerated truck to support local food rescue programs.