An Ohio plant takes 190,000 tons of unwanted food a year instead of sending it to landfill; what comes out is pipeline-ready renewable natural gas

Every day, truckloads of spoiled produce, expired snacks, and leftover brewery byproducts arrive at a facility in St. Bernard, Ohio, a small village enclave surrounded by Cincinnati. None of it goes to a landfill. It goes into sealed tanks where bacteria break it down and make gas that can be pumped straight into the natural gas pipeline. The facility, built and operated by Synthica Energy, is designed to take in 190,000 tons of food-derived material every year and turn it into roughly 250,000 MMBtu of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas, according to Synthica Energy.

The landfill methane problem behind this project

Most people don't think twice about throwing away spoiled food. Once in the landfill, it starts to break down anaerobically and release methane, which is much more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. The EPA has found that food waste accounts for 24 percent of total U.S. landfill disposal and 58 percent of total fugitive methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills. This is significant because landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States. Places like St. Bernard exist to ensure waste does not go directly into the landfill cell.


Inside the tanks where food waste becomes fuel

The process is called anaerobic digestion. It is not new science, per se; it is just being applied on a larger scale here. Organic matter is dumped into oxygen-free tanks, where microbes decompose it and produce biogas as a byproduct. According to the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, the raw biogas, a mix of roughly 50 to 60 percent methane and 40 to 50 percent carbon dioxide, along with trace impurities, has to have that carbon dioxide, along with moisture and trace hydrogen sulfide, stripped out before it can go anywhere near a gas pipeline. The resulting gas is chemically nearly identical to the natural gas currently flowing through America's gas lines, which is why it can be pumped straight into existing infrastructure without requiring a separate distribution system.

The feedstock for the St. Bernard site includes damaged produce, spent yeast and beer, high-strength wastewater, and other byproducts of biodiesel and food manufacturing, according to Synthica Energy. However, the organic matter is not limited to agricultural waste. Manure, wood, and household trash are not welcome at the facility, keeping the focus on the kinds of waste manufacturers and food producers typically pay to dispose of.

The Cincinnati region's food manufacturing connection

Cincinnati is the center of a large concentration of food and beverage manufacturers, which is one reason why the plant was located there. According to Synthica, St. Bernard is the first anaerobic digestion plant within 50 miles of Cincinnati on industrial land accessible from major highways and connected directly to natural gas infrastructure. The project involved a $50 million capital investment and provided over 30 construction jobs, plus 20 permanent jobs once it was completed, according to Synthica Energy. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in July 2023, and it began commercial operations in the second quarter of 2025, making it one of the newest examples of renewable natural gas expansion in the Midwest.

The significance of the term pipeline-ready

Biogas coming out of the digester is too impure for widespread use. After upgrading to renewable natural gas, it can enter a natural gas transmission or distribution pipeline as a substitute for fossil natural gas, according to the EPA. That matters to anyone deciding whether renewable energy projects can fit into existing systems, rather than requiring an entirely separate distribution network. In addition, the gas produced in St. Bernard doesn't even need a separate customer base. It simply replaces a portion of the fossil natural gas that would have been used anyway in those same pipelines.

A model other food-manufacturing regions could follow

The St. Bernard project stands out not for being one of a kind, but for how easily it could be replicated elsewhere. Any region with a concentration of food producers, brewers, or produce distributors will likely have the same type of organic waste stream this plant was built to consume. Projects like this can be replicated in other regions, repurposing waste that would otherwise go to a landfill.