Waupaca County is facing a proposed county-wide zoning ordinance that would allow on-farm co-digesters on any agriculturally zoned land in our county.  If you live or own property in Waupaca County, WI......Please sign this petition to deny the proposed County ordinance!

Our case for your support.....
Should this zoning amendment be approved, it would remove local control, oversight, and the ability of local townships to place conditions on a co-digester project to protect their township, its natural resources, and the health and well-being of its citizens.

Co-digesters use microorganisms to break down multiple organic materials in a digester tank. On-farm manure/food waste co-digesters are touted as a solution for manure management and for processing industrial food waste. However, food waste is a catch-all term used by the waste industry to hide “dirtier substances" including wastes from plastic food packaging, slaughterhouses, breweries, pet food manufacturing, milk production, and used fats and grease.

Farm co-digesters have less stringent regulations, oversight, and testing of the digestate than municipal/industrial facilities such as wastewater treatment plants or landfills. They destabilize the nutrients and when spread on farmland makes them more prone to runoff into surface waters and infiltration into groundwater. Co-digestion also exposes manure to contaminants that remain in digestate including forever chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, antibiotic resistant pathogens, and microplastics  producing a toxic brew harmful to humans, fish, and wildlife.

Co-digesters, are in reality, industrial waste facilities and placing them on a farm or agriculturally zone land does not change that reality. In addition, re-classifying digestate as agricultural waste simply because it went through a farm co-digester DOES NOT mean it is safe for field application. The majority of the waste used in an on-farm co-digester does not come from the farm, and an on-farm co-digester SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AN AG ACCESSORY. The Digestate from farm-based co-digesters should be prohibited from being spread on farmland due to the dangers it poses to soil, water, fish, wildlife, and public health.