Vanguard Renewables has opened an anaerobic digestion and depackaging facility in River Falls, Wisconsin. 

The site provides food and beverage manufacturers, retailers and processors across the Minneapolis-St. Paul region with a way to recycle food waste while reducing risk and improving efficiency.

Food and beverage companies in Wisconsin and Minnesota face growing regulatory pressure to manage organics responsibly and recover packaging materials. Both states are advancing policies such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and commercial organics diversion requirements, driving demand for solutions that ensure compliance and advance sustainability goals.

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"Vanguard Renewables gives food and beverage companies a turnkey solution to simplify organics recycling and reduce risk," says Kent Bartley, president of organic solutions. "We combine deep industry expertise with full-service capabilities, from managing logistics with our own fleet to providing real-time data for compliance and reporting. Our approach makes organics recycling simple and reliable."

Located at Peterson Family Dairy, a fourth-generation farm in Pierce County, the River Falls facility can process up to 275 tons of food and beverage waste per day and will generate 289,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas (RNG) annually — enough to power 53,000 homes and businesses each year. The RNG will help power AstraZeneca's U.S. research and manufacturing facilities.

The River Falls facility features advanced depackaging technology to handle both bulk and packaged food and beverage products and is processing more than 50 waste streams from over 30 customers in the region.

This is Vanguard Renewables' second location in Wisconsin, joining its operational site in Eden serving the Milwaukee area.