Case Study: City of Baltimore achieves award-winning, sold-out biosolids-to-compost program with Veolia North America

Baltimore's Award Winning Biosolids Project

The City of Baltimore needed a privatized solution to beneficially manage biosolids from its Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Since partnering in 1984 with a predecessor to Veolia North America, Veolia North America now owns, operates and markets a 45 dry-tons-per-day in-vessel biosolids composting facility that processes anaerobically digested, dewatered sludge for public and private users.

Veolia North America implemented a Product and Process Improvement Program, revised the compost recipe to nearly triple annual finished production, built distributor alliances, and marketed ORGRO High Organic Compost through a dealer network to turf managers, landscapers and soil blenders. The project has exceeded goals—more than two decades of perfect compliance with no odor complaints, consistent revenue growth, Class A/EQ certification from the U.S. EPA and Maryland, regular sell-outs of product, and complete waste-to-compost conversion.

City of Baltimore