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A private landowner in the Fairview area requested a public hearing at the Chambers County Commission meeting about an industrial processing machine on his land.

County Attorney Skip McCoy said the commission has no zoning in the area. The initiation of the public hearing was just due to the landowner Larry Crane’s desire to be forthcoming with the community. 

“The initiation of this public hearing was all done because Mr. Crane wanted to be forthright, and he wanted to let everybody know what his intentions were,” McCoy said. 

Crane said he had already spoken with two of his Fairview neighbors about the machine. McCoy said the commission also sent out letters informing the surrounding neighbors. 

During the meeting, Crane and Jim Gosner, who sells the machinery, spoke about the food waste processor and its environmental impact. 

The machine dehydrates food waste such as meat and vegetables and processes it into powder. From there, it is pressed into a pellet form that can be easily stored and resold as animal feed. 

“The machine will dehydrate the food waste that we intend to pick up and then turn it into a usable product that hopefully will eventually be able to resell,” Crane said.

In the meantime, however, Crane has talked with a Georgia farmer about picking up the pellets for their livestock. 

Gosner said that the machine has very little noise pollution, and thanks to the closed loop circulation, does not produce any strong smell. The point of the machine is to decrease food waste ending up in landfills.

“In 2012, there was a study conducted that showed that 12% of the trash that goes into the landfill is actually food waste,” Gosner said. “So hopefully this will help keep some of that food waste out of the landfills.”

To be clear, Chambers County’s landfill is a C&D (Construction and Demolition) landfill which means that it is not designated for food waste. 

The machine is also a form of revenue potential and is a feed extender for livestock. 

“If you don’t contaminate [food waste] or have any issues, it’s not waste,” Gosner said. “It’s just nothing that should be thrown away. You’ve got to find a better home for it. So that’s really the essence of what you’re doing is you’re finding the value.”

Because the product has below 10% moisture, there is no chance of mold or bacteria growing either. As long as Crane keeps the product out of the rain, there should be no impact.