The Brown County Waste Transformation Project (BCWTP) is a feasibility study to find economic and environmental solutions for farmers and industries that land apply wait. Agriculture is a $3 billion a year industry in Brown County which provides jobs for 10 percent of the workforce creating an income of $844.5 million in Brown County. The BCWTP is a project that will sustain and even grow this industry.
Brown County faces three primary challenges:
- There is not enough cropland for application of waste.
- The agricultural industry has great economic pressures such as the increasing cost of land, fuel, fertilizer and waste disposal – including the transportation and storage of waste.
- Contamination of surface and groundwater from land spreading and management of waste.
The BCWTP is the solution to all three challenges. With the help of FEECO, ENCAP and other public and private partners, the BCWTP is working to take organic waste streams that are municipal, industrial or agricultural generated to make a value added product that can be sold to an end user as a pelletized pathogenic free fertilizer.
In addition to agriculture, 26 companies or corporations land apply waste in Brown County. Insufficient cropland for waste to be land applied is forcing the transportation of waste greater distances. Application of waste on shrinking cropland levels has led to serious groundwater contamination problems and pollution of the Lower Green Bay. The BCWTP will help protect groundwater and reduce nutrient delivery to Green Bay and Lake Michigan.
This project uses various waste streams, removes the water, turns it into a pellet and adds ENCAP’s Movement Control Technology. With this proven technology, pathogens are destroyed, the nutrients of the fertilizer are held by the soil for crop utilization and non-point runoff is controlled. This fertilizer is a cost-effective alternative that will give the user a bigger bang for their buck by keeping nutrients on the field while protecting the environment and creating an industry that is not limited to Brown County or the State of Wisconsin.
The goal of the BCWTP is to build a business model that will lessen the burden on the lands in Brown County, create jobs in a growing “green” industry and protect our environment.
For more information, contact Brad Holtz.
Source: http://www.co.brown.wi.us/departments/page_b66dc97ba6b7/?department=097c0e79486a&subdepartment=7c17181709a3
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