In this age of everything pushing toward Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Pasco County is embracing a new technology at a brand new state-of-the-art facility located at their Shady Hill complex. The Pasco County biosolids facility will process the county’s material; a residue from domestic waste water treatment previously landfilled, into a Class AA Registered Fertilizer under the label of FloridaGreen.

The FloridaGreen facility is a public-private partnership with Pasco County and the Biosolids Management Company, Merrell Bros., Inc., who holds the patent for their design that will go online during the late spring of 2018. They hosted an Open House on Wednesday, May 9^th from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. that included guided walking tours and informative exhibits.

FloridaGreen will process approximately 50,000 wet tons of biosolids per year and will be reducing the volume of material by nearly 75%. Merrell Bros., Inc. (Kokomo, IN) will be responsible for sourcing the biosolids, operating the facility and managing the marketing and distribution. The 15-year agreement between Pasco County and Merrell Bros., Inc. allows for three 5-year renewals.

The facility incorporates two different technologies: solar greenhouse drying and oven pasteurization. In the initial phase, the biosolids will be received and pre-dried in two greenhouse units totaling 130,000 square feet.

The greenhouse design allows for a fully-contained environment permitting the biosolids to dry naturally using solar heat while being aerated and turned for a maximum of 14 days in the greenhouses. The approximately 60% dry biosolids material leaving the first phase has achieved the increased solids content while it has decreased in mass.

The second phase of the process involves transporting the material via specialized conveyors to a secondary oven pasteurization system. During this final process, the biosolids are further dried while being pasteurized and will generate Class AA results, the highest level of treatment. This results in a product, FloridaGreen Fertilizer, that can be utilized commercially as an organic based, dry fertilizer, all accomplished by Reducing, Reusing and Recycling the initial volume that was hauled to the facility fourteen days earlier.

The public were able to take a first-hand tour of the state’s premier biosolids management facility on May 9^th. The FloridaGreen facility provides sustainable materials management and through waste recycling and landfill diversion.

"I had the immense pleasure of meeting the Merrill family today at the ribbon cutting for Merrell Bros./ Florida Green Fertilizer Biosolids Management facility. They will save the county millions and create a viable fertilizer instead of hazardous waste! Thanks for choosing Pasco County!" ~ Jack Mariano