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JUDY WOODRUFF: In the final 
episode of our special series 
this week on food waste, we

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look at some innovative 
solutions being developed 
to deal with the growing 
problem of spoiled

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and surplus food 
in this country.

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Special correspondent Allison 
Aubrey visited a state where 
dairy farmers are using it to

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power their farms and more.

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ALLISON AUBREY: It's 
burger night at Barstow's 
Dairy and Bakery at 
Longview Farm in Hadley,

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Massachusetts, and the 
Pioneer Valley String 
Band has drawn a crowd.

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As advertised, the burgers 
are born and raised here.

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But the cows on this farm 
produce more than just meat.

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DENISE BARSTOW, Barstow's 
Longview Farm: Our cows are 
producing about a hundred pounds

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of cow manure per cow per 
day, and we're treating 
it through this system 
and getting electricity,

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renewable energy that's coming 
right here from the farm.

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ALLISON AUBREY: The system that 
seventh-generation farmer Denise 
Barstow is talking about is

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an anaerobic digester.

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Those green towers 
are part of it.

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She's one of a handful of 
dairy farmers in Massachusetts 
using this technology.

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Just down the road, dairy farmer 
Peter Melnik is using it, too.

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STEVEN MELNIK, Bar-Way Farm: 
We are taking food waste from 
all over the greater Boston

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area and our very 
own cow manure.

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We mix them together 
in the digester vessel 
and make electricity.

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ALLISON AUBREY: This land 
has been in Melnik's family 
for four generations.

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But times are tough 
for dairy farmers, so 
Melnik has diversified.

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His land is now part farm, and 
part renewable energy plant.

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The process starts here.

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STEVEN MELNIK: This 
is the manure pit, as 
we like to call it.

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ALLISON AUBREY: But he 
needs more than manure.

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The trick to making this 
waste-to-energy system 
profitable is volume, 
and Melnik has found

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an abundant source.

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Millions of pounds each year of 
surplus and spoiled food that 
would otherwise be destined

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for a landfill now arrives at 
his farm in trucks like this.

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The food scraps are ground 
up into a liquid slurry that 
gets pumped into this pit.

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The more you add, the more 
electricity you can make.

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The waste comes from all over.

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There's unsold produce 
from whole foods, scraps 
and whey from a Cabot 
butter plant, and spent

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grain from a local brewery.

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STEVEN MELNIK: Inside the 
digester, it's about almost 
a million gallon tank.

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It's heated to 105 degrees.

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And inside there 
are tiny microbes.

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ALLISON AUBREY: Microbes from 
these cow's digestive tracks 
and the rotting food produce

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methane, which is 
usually released into 
the atmosphere, playing 
a role in climate change.

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But, here, when the gas is 
captured, it's stored in these 
big black bubbles, and Melnik

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can actually generate 
power from it.

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STEVEN MELNIK: We 
produce a megawatt of 
electricity every hour.

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ALLISON AUBREY: 
How much is that?

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STEVEN MELNIK: A megawatt is 
enough to power the digester 
and the dairy farm, our houses

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and outbuildings out here, and 
we still have 90 percent of 
our electricity left over to

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be put back on the grid.

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ALLISON AUBREY: And 
the other 90 percent?

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It powers some of the 
businesses that send their 
food waste to the digesters.

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It also powers two local towns.

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They're able to purchase the 
electricity at a 10 percent 
to 15 percent discount.

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So, what is it that 
you get from this?

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How does this help 
your bottom line?

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STEVEN MELNIK: We are 
getting about $100,000 
a year in savings.

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ALLISON AUBREY: The digesters 
are built and run by a company 
called Vanguard Renewables.

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The company pays farmers a fee 
for the use of their land and 
gives them free electricity

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to power their farms and houses.

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In addition to the economic 
boost, Melnik says he likes 
the environmental benefits.

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STEVEN MELNIK: I don't need 
an app or an environmental 
calculator to tell me 
that this thing just

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makes sense.

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Having such a closed-loop 
system, it's really been neat to 
see the connection between all

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the food companies.

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ALLISON AUBREY: One player 
in this loop is Whole Foods.

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Seventeen of their 
stores participate.

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They ship 50 to 100 
tons of food waste every 
week to their digesters.

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At the stores, they grind up 
food they can't sell or donate, 
and then truck it to Melnik's

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farm.

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Whole Foods' Karen 
Franczyk explains.

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KAREN FRANCZYK, Whole Foods: 
Anything that ends up going 
to landfill or incineration

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costs us more money.

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That is the most 
expensive way to get rid 
of waste in our stores.

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ALLISON AUBREY: So, 
sending the waste to the 
anaerobic digester is 
cheaper, and can help

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reduce the ecological footprint.

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Up to 10 percent of all 
greenhouse gas emissions 
are linked to food waste.

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And in 2014, Massachusetts 
passed a law to ban 
food companies from 
sending their waste

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to landfills.

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It applies to all businesses 
that generate over a ton 
of food waste a week.

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So far, four other states in the 
U.S. have passed similar bans.

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JOHN MAJERCAK, President, 
Center for EcoTechnology: Each 
part of the food waste stream.

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ALLISON AUBREY: John Majercak 
is president of the Center 
for EcoTechnology, a nonprofit

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that helps businesses 
in Massachusetts save 
energy and reduce waste.

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JOHN MAJERCAK: To transport 
food waste super long distances 
is very expensive and also

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wasteful.

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So the idea was to try and put 
dots on a map all across the 
state close to where the waste

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is produced, so that it could 
be used to produce energy.

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And the state did this by 
incentivizing the development 
of these digesters.

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ALLISON AUBREY: Those dots are 
now sprinkled across the state, 
and incentives came in the

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form of grants given 
to the companies to 
build the digesters.

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John Hanselman is 
Vanguard's CEO.

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He says he is inspired by what 
has happened in Europe, where 
there are over 17,000 digesters

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and government policies to 
promote renewable energy.

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JOHN HANSELMAN, CEO, Vanguard 
Renewables: So we saw what 
was happening in Europe, where

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anaerobic digestion is 
extremely widespread.

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Across the United 
States, we don't have 
that incentive program.

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We don't have the federal 
energy policy or any 
federal benefits for 
anaerobic digestion.

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I think we are at the cusp.

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We are at the early days.

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We have finally got 
the economics to work.

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ALLISON AUBREY: Hanselman 
says, after six years in the 
making, he expects to make a

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profit this year, and he's 
optimistic about the growth.

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This waste-to-energy approach 
is new in the U.S., and the 
extent to which it can take

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off may depend on how much 
states or the federal government 
are willing to incentivize it.

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In Massachusetts, it took two 
new laws, a food waste ban, 
and a renewable energy law,

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plus grants to make it happen.

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Farmer Denise Barstow is 
glad it's all worked out.

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DENISE BARSTOW: You can't just 
work really hard anymore and 
make it in the dairy industry.

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You have to work 
smarter, not just harder.

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And part of that is diversifying 
in a way that is better for 
the land, better for the

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animals and better for 
the next generation.

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ALLISON AUBREY: For the 
"PBS NewsHour," I'm Allison 
Aubrey of NPR News in 
Hadley, Massachusetts.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: And you can 
see all of our stories on the 
topic of food waste on our

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home page.

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That's PBS.org/NewsHour.