MUSCATINE, Iowa – The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Iowa awarded Stanley Consultants the Grand Prize in the water and wastewater category and the overall 2020 competition’s Grand Conceptor award for the design of the Muscatine Organic Waste Recycling Project. Stanley Consultants is a worldwide provider of engineering, environmental and construction services.
The ACEC competition is based on such elements as innovation, new applications of technology, enhanced public awareness and future value to the engineering profession.
The Muscatine Organic Recycling Center (MORC), which opened in May 2020, has already put Muscatine on the map as an emerging regional hub for organic waste recycling. According to Jon Koch, Director of the City of Muscatine’s Water and Resource Recovery Facility, businesses up to 200 miles away have expressed interest in hauling organic waste to Muscatine for recycling.
The MORC is one of just three municipally owned facilities of its kind in the U.S. and the only one in the Midwest. What makes it unique is its ability to separate food waste from packaging. The facility enables cost effective processing of packaged foods previously sent to the landfill due to prohibitively high labor costs to depackage the food.
A depackaging machine uses spinning paddles to break open the packages and separate the packaging from the organic waste. The packaging is then either recycled or disposed of and the organic waste is pumped into a large treatment tank where it is blended and fed into the same anerobic digesters that operate to clean the city’s municipal wastewater.
Bacteria in the digesters break down the organic matter and generate biogas that is mostly methane, the primary component of natural gas. The process also produces biosolids, a nutrient rich fertilizer that is applied to farm ground to naturally replenish nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil.
According to Koch, based on projected revenue from tipping fees, the $3 million project will pay for itself in 4- to 6 years.
Stanley Consultants has been the prime consultant and engineer for the project for over six years. During this time the firm has provided a variety of design concepts as the project evolved, as well as preliminary and final design and permitting.
Over the years the firm has provided a variety of studies and analyses, including:
- Co-digestion feasibility study
- Local high strength waste producer research
- Assessment of types and quantities of waste that might be received
- Receiving system concepts
- Projection of potential biogas production levels
- Feasibility of compressed gas storage
- Costs analyses and construction cost estimates
- Review of renewable fuels credit programs
- Direct pipeline injection costs
- Concepts for receiving and processing facilities
About Stanley Consultants
Stanley Consultants provides program management, planning, engineering, environmental and construction services worldwide. Recognized for its commitment to client service and a passion to make a difference, Stanley Consultants brings global knowledge, experience and capabilities to serve federal, municipal and industrial clients in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Since 1913, Stanley Consultants has successfully completed more than 25,000 engagements in all 50 states, U.S. territories, and in 110 countries. For more information on Stanley Consultants, please visit http://www.stanleyconsultants.com.