Anaergia Inc. has announced that one of its subsidiaries, Rialto Bioenergy Facility LLC (RBF), has initiated voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California, Recycling Today reported. RBF anticipates that, during the restructuring, it will continue operating its multi-feedstock bioenergy facility in Rialto, Calif., which can convert up to 700 tons per day of organic waste, such as food and yard waste and biosolids, into renewable natural gas (RNG) with the capability to generate renewable electricity, soil amendments and fertilizer. RBF, with offices in Carlsbad and a facility in Rialto, California, is 51-percent owned by Anaergia Services LLC, a wholly-owned Anaergia subsidiary. As a result of a lack of feedstock available to the facility, RBF has been unable to produce sufficient revenue to cover its costs and debt service. Anaergia says the feedstock shortfall is due to a delay in the implementation and enforcement of laws requiring organic waste diversion from landfills by the city of Los Angeles as required under its contracts with private waste management companies, as well under California’s SB 1383. The company says feedstock ramp-up is slow industry-wide.
