This Maine farm converts truckloads of food waste to electricity. It still could be taking more

MAINE PUBLIC • July 21, 2022

Food waste causes 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it a bigger contributor to climate change than the aviation industry. Now, a growing number of Maine residents, communities and groups are trying to waste less food — and when not possible, to dispose of their leftovers in better ways. While many of those recovery efforts involve composting or donating to food banks, perhaps the biggest takes a different approach. Exeter Agri-Energy converts food waste and cow manure into electricity, fertilizer and cow bedding. They operate three digesters and a depackaging machine that, when operating at full scale, can power 2,500 homes. They send the packaging removed from food to ecomaine in Portland, where it's burned in a waste-to-energy incinerator. Agri-Energy, which can accept 80,000 tons of food waste annually but Maine generates more than 200,000 tons.