Wood County Solid Waste District gains $425,000 in grants for 3 projects

5/14/2008

BOWLING GREEN Grants totaling $425,000 have been awarded to the Wood County Solid Waste District for projects aimed at better handling waste products.

The grants, which are disbursed through the solid waste district, were awarded by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention.

Wood Water Services, a division of NAT Transportation near Bradner, is to receive $250,000 to help pay for installation of a food waste biodigester.

Ken Rieman, director of the solid waste district, said the company has not yet found a location for the digester, which recycles food waste and cow manure into methane gas, liquid fertilizer, and animal bedding, but would like to locate it near one of the large-scale dairies in the county.

The Bowling Green Recycling Center is to receive $100,000 toward construction of a new sorting line at the center to handle unsorted recyclables picked up by the city of Bowling Green.

The new line, which will be located in a building under construction at the recycling center, will allow the city to do automated pickup of recyclables as it does with trash, Mr. Rieman said.

The third grant, for $75,000, is for Enviro Tire, a tire collection business near Fostoria, to establish a tire-shredding operation. Mr. Rieman said most shredded tires are used as drainage materials in landfills in place of sand and stone.