In a unique initiative, the city buses in Mladá Boleslav, a city in the Czech Republic, are now being powered by waste from canteens and expired food. The city has launched this exciting project to make the best use of what children and other diners leave uneaten.
Recently operational, a biogas station receives food waste from school kitchens, restaurants, and particular waste bins in residential areas. The collected waste is then converted into biogas, which fuels the city buses. Radek Lizec, the managing director of the technical company Compag, which manages waste around the city and its surroundings, referred to this as a “pilot project.”
The process begins with trucks transporting the leftovers to the station. The waste is poured into a storage tank, from where it goes into a facility, which triggers a biological reaction, producing biomethane gas. Once cleaned, this gas can fill the tanks of buses. Surplus gas can also be sold to the regular gas network, enabling even further cooking of meals on gas generated from food waste.
The station processes leftovers from canteens and expired food. According to Lizec, the waste processing operation has ecological and economic benefits, “In recent years, the fees for landfilling waste have dramatically increased. Thanks to this processing, we can significantly reduce the waste we send to landfills.”
The operation is expected to expand in the coming years, aiming to process all municipal waste and produce alternative fuel.