Coffee Compound Earns City Innovation Award

Rob Powers is the industrial pretreatment coordinator for the city’s public works department.

Part of his job is to evaluate limits of the industrial byproducts in the wastewater stream. Too much of them can upset the biological plant process.

One part of this is using carbon to remove nitrogen. Too much nitrogen can disrupt water environments.

Powers recognized that an organic byproduct that coffee syrup manufacturer Monin was throwing away was similar to a chemical the city used to remove nitrogen levels when treating wastewater.

“The idea to use an alternative chemical is not uncommon in our industry,” Powers said in a release. “What is new is that our new carbon source is a processing byproduct of one of our local industries and not another expensive commercial product.”

For these efforts the city’s Public Utilities department received a national award for “Outstanding Achievement in Innovation” by the Alliance for Innovation: Transforming Local Government.

Monin is an international company that creates flavored coffee syrups. It opened a facility in Clearwater in 1996. 

The company recycle scorrugated paperboard, wood pallets and fluorescent light bulbs. Monin saved 195,960 pounds of trash from hitting the waste stream in 2011, according to a news release from the company.

And through an agreement started in 2010, they sell the city its defective syrup rather than throw it away. 

“It’s a win-win situation," said Tracy Mercer, Director of Public Utilities. "The manufacturer benefits through reduced disposal costs, and the city reduced costs by about $40,000 per year.” 

To learn more about the innovation award, visit transformgov.org.