Frequent Questions: EPA Reports on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States
On this page:
- Why did EPA collect this data?
- Who will use the information in the reports?
- Does the data presented in the reports reflect the entire universe of anaerobic digestion facilities in the United States?
- Is any of the data estimated or projected?
- Does EPA provide operational data about individual facilities in the reports?
- What does EPA plan to do with the data in these reports?
- Do the reports cover all the biogas that is produced at Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs)?
- Where can I find more information about each digester type identified in these reports?
- When will data from additional years become available?
- Can I directly compare the results of one year's report to another year's report?
Why did EPA collect this data?
There is little publicly available information about the number, location, and operational characteristics of anaerobic digestion facilities that accept food waste in the United States. EPA recognized that better data was needed to support efforts to divert organic wastes from landfills. So, under information collection request numbers 2533.01 and 2533.04, EPA developed electronic data collection surveys for stand-alone food waste digesters, on-farm digesters that co-digest food waste and digesters at WRRFs that co-digest food waste.
Who will use the information in these reports?
The reports are useful to many interested parties engaged in efforts to reduce food loss and waste. These groups include state, Tribal, and local governments, non-profits interested in diverting food waste from landfills, the biogas industry, renewable energy and wastewater treatment researchers, universities, and more.
Does the data presented in these reports reflect the entire universe of anaerobic digestion facilities in the United States?
This data collection only covers AD facilities that accept food waste as feedstock. However, there are many AD facilities that process only manure or wastewater solids, and they are excluded from this data collection. Additionally, it is unlikely that EPA has identified all AD facilities in the U.S. that accept food waste, and not all AD facilities that process food waste respond to the EPA survey. EPA maintains a list of AD facilities in the U.S. which is available for download from the Excess Food Opportunities Map.
Is any of the data estimated or projected?
The data presented summarizes information reported in survey responses for the specific year of interest in the survey round. Projecting or predicting volumes processed at non-reporting facilities is not within the scope of this project. Food waste capacity and food waste processed that was reported in gallons was converted to tons to quantify the total capacity available for processing food waste. EPA converted the data from gallons per year to tons per year because tons is the industry standard for measuring food waste.
Does EPA provide operational data about individual facilities in these reports?
No. The collected data has been aggregated so that operational data from individual facilities cannot be ascertained.
What does EPA plan to do with the data in these reports?
EPA has approval to collect data through 2025. The first five rounds of data collection and reporting are complete. The sixth and final round of data collection closed in August 2024 and data analysis is underway. This data collection helps EPA provide the public with information about:
- The number and location of operational anaerobic digestion facilities in the U.S. and information on the amount of food waste and non-food waste processed as well as biogas production.
- Efforts to decrease landfilling and increase beneficial uses of digestate and biogas.
- Pre-processing/de-packaging activities, operational specifications, and gas cleaning systems.
Do the reports cover all the biogas that is produced at Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs)?
No. Only the WRRFs that currently co-digest food waste and WRRFs with co-digestion systems that are under development are covered in these reports. However, there are more than 1,200 WRRFs that have digesters and produce biogas in the United States. Documenting the biogas produced in all WRRF digesters was beyond the scope of this project.
Where can I find more information about each digester type identified in these reports?
You can find basic information about the different types of digesters and their characteristics on our Types of Anaerobic Digesters webpage.
When will data from additional years become available?
We will publish future data summaries after we complete data collection and analysis. You can find past and future reports on our Anaerobic Digestion Data Collection Project webpage.
Can I directly compare the results of one year's report to another year's report?
No. The facilities that respond to the survey are different each year, and EPA does not estimate or extrapolate for facilities that do not report. So, it is not possible to directly compare the results from year to year. It may be helpful for you to review the lists of facilities that responded each year. The appendices of the first four reports contain these lists.