[Ryan]

As noted, beneficial reuse of digestate as a fertilizer / soil amendment provides a source of N that is more available to plants, reduced pathogen content, reduced ordour, among others. Some additional benefits are tied to the source of the organic material going through the digester and the typical method those materials were managed. For example, a SSO facility or a comingled system can divert organic from disposal in landfills, converting them into a form more suitable for land application as a fertilizer. When used by an industrial operation, like a food processor, processed organic waste from a digester could provide additional opportunities for disposal and cost reduction for the management of the organic wastes generated.

There are some things that need to be considered, include the total nutrient content of the digestate, especially when utilizing ag source materials such as manure with non ag source organics on farms. The controlling nutrient when applying manure to ag lands it typically P, for comingled systems that often changes to N being the controlling nutrient. That change can impact the acres needed to sustainably manage the digestate.