Republic Services' Thor machine makes composting easier for commercial venues
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Republic Services' new machine processes organic waste from local venues for composting. Photo: Kate Murphy/Axios
A new machine named Thor is helping Republic Services take out San Diego's trash more sustainably and on a larger scale.
Why it matters: Processing organic food waste more efficiently while making it cleaner for composting keeps more of it out of landfills, reducing the release of harmful methane gas and air pollution.
Zoom in: Unlike residents, commercial venues — think Petco Park, the zoo, restaurants and schools — don't separate food waste from containers and other trash before Republic Services picks it up.
- Those food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard trimmings are delivered to the Otay Landfill in large plastic bags. Now, Thor does the separating, much faster than workers, and can process 100 tons of food waste daily.
- Named for its powerful hammers, the machine works like a garlic press extracting packaging and other plastics to create a cleaner oatmeal-like slurry of food waste to be composted.
Driving the news: Republic Services recently unveiled the new de-packager equipment that's part of its 410-acre Otay Sustainability Park in Chula Vista — home to California's first fully solar-powered aerated compost facility.
- The facility can process up to 600,000 pounds of residential and commercial waste each day, a 50% increase since opening in 2021.
- The company also runs a construction and demolition recycling operation on site and is rolling out electric trash trucks.
What they're saying: "Our challenge was to pull organics out of the landfill," Neil Mohr, General Manager at Republic Services, told Axios. "We wanted to come up with a way where our customers could do it efficiently and easier."
- Pulling that waste out and composting it into a product that can be used in the community improves soil, reduces water usage and greenhouse gas emissions, and prolongs the life of the landfill, he said.
How it works: At the facility, the waste from Thor and residents' green bins is ground and piled into long rows and covered to maintain high temperatures and remove pathogens.
- The material is managed and monitored over eight weeks and then screened to be used as mulch or compost for farming and city landscaping.
The big picture: This operation supports the local effort to reduce landfills and climate emissions in compliance with a 2016 state law that mandated cutting 75% of organic waste disposal by 2025.
- San Diego has already struggled to meet that ambitious goal, and its current climate plan sets a target to divert 82% of waste from landfills by 2030 and 90% by 2035.
Between the lines: Republic Services contracts with cities around the county, including Chula Vista and Carlsbad, along with San Diego's commercial venues and many multi-family residences.
- San Diego also runs its own residential organic waste recycling collection service using the Miramar landfill and composting facility.
