OMB Control No. 20XX-XXXX 

Approval expires XX/XX/XX 

DRAFT

Sample Data Tracking Form for Collection of Information on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities 

Processing Wasted Food to Support EPA’s Sustainable Food Management Programs

Section I. Facility and Contact Information

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1. Project/Facility Name:

2. Type of Stand-Alone Facility1: 

a. Multi-Source Digester

b. Industry Dedicated Digester

c. Other – please specify.

3. Street address of facility:

4. City, County, State:

5. Contact information for facility operational data:

a. Name

b. Phone number

c. Email

d. Mailing address

6. Facility operating status:

a. Planning stage;

b. In permitting process;

c. Under construction;

d. Operational;

e. Temporary shut-down;

f. Ceased operation;

g. Other – please specify.

 

1

Terms in bold-italics are defined in the glossary.
Section II. Feedstock and Capacity Information:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

7. In Table 1 below, please identify the types of Food-Based Materials (feedstocks) that are 

processed in your digester. Check all that apply. 

Table 1: Food-Based Feedstocks

8. Please provide the total amount of Food-Based Materials processed at this facility. The 

preferred units are total tons or total gallons (please specify).

a. During calendar year 2014 = _______________________

b. During calendar year 2015 = _______________________

c. During calendar year 2016 = _______________________

9. In Table 2 below, please identify the types of Non-Food-Based Materials that are processed in 

your digester. Check all that apply. 

Table 2: Non-Food-Based Feedstocks

Non-Food-Based Feedstocks

Feedstock Type: Accepted 

(Y/N?):

Generated 

Onsite/Offsite?

Source of Feedstock Volume processed in 

2015 (in tons or 

gallons – pls specify)

Mixed yard waste

Crop residues

Manures

Wastewater solids (sludge)

Litters

De-icing fluid

Feedstock Type: Accepted 

(Y/N?):

Generated 

Onsite/Offsite?

Source of Feedstock: Volume processed in 

2015 (in tons or 

gallons – pls specify)

Fruit/vegetative wastes

Food processing industry

waste

Beverage processing 

industry waste

Food service waste, pre & 

post-consumer

Retail food waste

Source-separated 

commercial, institutional 

or residential organic 

wastes

Fats, oils and greases 

(FOG)

Rendering wastes

Other (please specify):
Lab (or Pharma) wastes

Paper mill wastes

Crude glycerine

Other (please specify):

10. Please provide the total amount of Non-Food-Based Materials processed at this facility. The 

preferred units are total tons or total gallons (please specify).

a. During calendar year 2014 = _______________________

b. During calendar year 2015 = _______________________

c. During calendar year 2016 = _______________________

11. Please describe any feedstock pre-processing and the reason for pre-processing

12. Please describe your de-packaging process, if applicable.

13. Please identify the tipping fee charged for offsite feedstocks including units (e.g., $/ton or 

$/gal). 

Section III. Design Specifications:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

14. Please answer the following questions about your digester:

a. What is your temperature range?

i. Unheated 

ii. Ambient 

iii. Thermophillic

iv. Mesophillic)

b. Is your digester Wet or Dry?

c. Is your digester Batch or Continuous Flow?

d. Is your digester Single or Multi-stage?

e. How would you describe your digester?

i. Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor 

ii. High Rate Bioreactor 

iii. Plug Flow

iv. Complete mix

v. Covered Lagoon

vi. Induced Blanker Reactor

vii. Hydraulic Self-stir Reactors

viii. Hybrid

ix. Fixed Film

x. Unknown

xi. Other
Section IV. Product End-Uses

_____________________________________________________________________________________

BIOGAS

15. Please provide the average biogas production volume at your facility in Standard Cubic Foot 

(SCF)/minute, SCF/hour or SCF/year:

a. During calendar year 2014 = _______________________

b. During calendar year 2015 = _______________________

c. During calendar year 2016 = _______________________

16. Please identify what the biogas produced at this facility is used for, check all that apply.

a. Power engines to produce:

i. Mechanical power;

ii. Heat; and/or

iii. Electricity 

b. Fuel boilers and furnaces to:

i. Heat digesters; and/or

ii. Heat other spaces

c. Compressed to vehicle fuels

d. Sold to the grid (electricity)

e. Renewable natural gas (processed for pipeline injection)

f. Other

17. Are you able to utilize all of the biogas produced? Yes/No

18. If you can’t utilize all the gas, do you flare the excess? Yes/No

19. What type of engine(s), turbine(s), boilers, gas purification or fuel cell(s) do you employ? 

20. Does the size of your gas utilization system limit your energy production

21. Is the biogas produced at this facility used onsite or sold?

DIGESTATE:

22. Is further processing of digestate occurring? Yes/No

23. If yes, please specify what kind of processing is occurring and for what reason. 

a. Dewatering
b. Nutrient recovery 

i. to meet NPDES permit requirements

ii. to recover Nitrogen 

iii. to recover Phosphorous

iv. to recover Potassium

v. for other use 

c. Drying

d. Composting

e. Other

24. Please identify how the liquid digestate is used or managed, check all that apply. 

a. Fertilizer/land application

b. Re-circulated through digester

c. Discharge to Wastewater Treatment Plant

d. Other

25. Please identify how the solid digestate is used or managed, check all that apply. 

a. Direct land application/agricultural use

b. Animal bedding

i. As is

ii. Further processed

c. Further processed into a soil amendment, then (check all that apply). 

i. Land applied

ii. Bagged and sold or sold in bulk

iii. Other

d. Made into other products (please specify the products) 

e. Other

26. Is any amount of your digestate disposed of in a landfill or incinerated? Yes/No

a. If yes, how much digestate was disposed of in a landfill in 2015? Units = tons or gallons 

(please specify).

b. If yes, how much digestate was incinerated in 2015? Units = tons or gallons (please 

specify). 

Section V. Identification of other Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Wasted Food

_____________________________________________________________________________________

27. Please review the names and locations of facilities in the list provided. If you are aware of any 

anaerobic digestion facilities that are processing Food-Based Materials that are not identified in 

this list, please provide the following information:

a. Project/Facility Name

b. Type of Facility: 

i. Stand-Alone Facility: 

1. Multi-Source Digester
2. Industry Dedicated Digester

ii. Anaerobic digester at a wastewater treatment plant that co-digests organic 

feedstocks other than wastewater solids/sludges

iii. On-farm anaerobic digester that co-digests organic feedstocks other than 

livestock manures

iv. Other– please specify. 

c. Street address of facility

d. City, County, and State

e. Contact information for facility operational data

i. Name

ii. Phone number

iii. Email

iv. Mailing address

The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 

minutes per response. Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided 

burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of 

automated collection techniques to the Director, Collection Strategies Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (2822T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Include the OMB control number in 

any correspondence. Do not send the completed form to this address.

GLOSSARY

1. Co-digestion - Co-digestion happens when more than one type of organic material is digested at 

the same time. Digesters are often built for a single purpose. For example, a farmer may build 

an anaerobic digester to handle cow manure. If the farmer also takes food waste from a local 

grocery store and puts the food waste in the digester along with the cow manure, it is called codigestion. 

2. Feedstocks – Feedstocks are organic waste streams that can be processed in an anaerobic 

digester. Common feedstocks include manure; sewage sludge; wasted food; yard waste; fats, 

oils, and greases (FOG); and industrial organic residuals.

3. Food-Based Materials - Organic wastes suitable for digestion that are food-based including but 

are not limited to: food scraps that have been separated and collected by municipalities from 

residential sources; food scraps that have been separated and collected from institutions or 

venues (prisons, hospitals, stadiums, etc.); food scraps from food preparation at restaurants, 

cafeterias, and other food services; plate scrapings from restaurants, cafeterias, and other food 

services; fats, oils and greases; unused food collected from retail stores (bakery items, bruised 

fruit, items passed shelf life, etc.) and food and beverage processing industry wastes.

4. Industry Dedicated Digester - Is a type of Stand-Alone Facility that is typically developed in a 

certain location for a food-processing plant. These digesters are built to process a specific waste 

stream or streams from a specific industry location (e.g., brewery waste from a beer company, 
yogurt by-products from a yogurt company, etc.)

5. Multi-Source Digester – Is a type of Stand-Alone Facility that could manage source-separated 

organic waste streams from one or more municipality, institution (e.g., a prison, a university or a 

hospital), or other source.

6. Non-Food-Based Materials – Organic wastes suitable for digestion that are not food-based 

including but not limited to: mixed yard waste, crop residues, manures, wastewater solids 

(sludge), litters, de-icing fluid, lab (or pharma) wastes, paper mill wastes and crude glycerine. 

7. Stand-Alone Facility – A Stand-Alone Facility may take other feedstocks but it is designed to 

process the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW). Although feedstocks can include 

yard waste, manures and wastewater solids, the primary feedstock is food-based materials. This 

type of facility could be for-profit organics recycling, community-based or built by a municipality 

to accommodate MSW.