Ecrusor™ Food Depackaging and Organics Recovery

Ecrusor™ is the ideal solution for depackaging and preparing biodegradable wastes for energy generation.

Co-digestion involves commingling of sewage wastewater sludge with other high strength waste from residential, commercial and/or industrial waste and anaerobically digested to produce stabilized end product and biogas.

The first step to any successful co-digestion process is to secure, receive, depackage, and pre-treat substrates that can be commingled with sewage wastewater sludge. The Ecrusor process is Veolia’s primary food depackaging and organics recovery process. The Ecrusor process is primarily used to depackage expired products such as dairy products, meat products, confectionery industry, manufacturing residuals, bakery wastes, including uncooked and cooked dough, expired soft drinks, expired food products, waste from grocery chains, waste from cafeterias, restaurants, commercial kitchens, restaurant, household, and kitchen wastes where available and landfill diverted organics. IN addition, the Ecrusor process can also accept unpackaged materials such as sewage liquid with 1 to 30% dry solids concentration, dairy waste, septic tank sewage, and dewatered cake from other facilities.

The Process

A compact and robust process, Ecrusor depacks food waste from its packaging in order to extract the organic material. Inert waste packaging material is sent to a recycle bin while energy-rich organic material is macerated and sent to a holding hopper prior to being pumped out. The patented process creates a homogenous mixture of liquid and solid organics that is conveyed to an anaerobic digester to produce biogas. Using CHP or other tools, this biogas can then be converted into energy for use at the facility or for sale back to the grid. Alternatively, the biogas can be converted to biomethane for use in pipeline in lieu of natural gas or compressed for use in vehicles. Ecrusor thus helps turn waste treatment facilities into revenue generating resource recovery facilities in a circular economy approach.

Simple Operation

Packaged or unpackaged waste is tipped into the Ecrusor’s receiving hopper. Within the Ecrusor, the bulk packaged waste is broken apart, and the organics gently squeezed out from the inorganic waste material. This is done with spiral grinding screws that move forwards and backwards, agitating, squeezing, and breaking apart the packaging. Ecrusor process includes an end plate that is equipped with a number of chopping/cutting teeth that facilitate the puncturing of the inert packaging material without making it so small that it could pass through the effluent perforated plate screen. The perforated plate screen thus retain the inert material but allow the pureed organic material to pass on to hopper and subsequently to the digester.

Advantages

• Ecrusor removes plastic, metal and mixed material packaging simultaneously

• Very low operating energy while producing a slurry that generates electricity

• Over 10 years of full-scale operation at multiple installations

• Installed below grade, outdoors or within truck off-loading stations to receive material directly from vehicles

• Ecrusor is capable of processing up to 52 cubic yards of waste every hour

Biosolids/Bioenergy

Veolia's biosolids treatment technologies focus on performance enhancement, renewable

energy, beneficial reuse, and removal of PFAS compounds.

We are committed to providing innovative solutions with proven value-added performance, offering a comprehensive solution for every part of the biosolids process in order to be flexible to individual needs or to outfit the entire process.