Longview plant turns food waste into biogas piped into Cascade Natural Gas system

Grocery executives and representatives from the governor's office were among the roughly 150 people in Longview who toured Divert Inc.'s new facility, capable of transforming inedible food waste into clean energy.

Divert Inc.'s new 66,000-square-foot, $100 million facility at the Mint Farm Industrial Park was unveiled to the crowd on Wednesday.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.

The grand opening drew representatives from King, Pierce, Thurston, and Kitsap counties, the cities of Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver, and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez.

Oregon Metro Councilor Christine Lewis - who represents portions of the greater Portland metropolitan area, including Lake Oswego, southwest Portland, Oregon City, Milwaukie and Happy Valley - spoke at Divert's ribbon-cutting ceremony, telling Longview Mayor Erik Halvorson that when she first toured Divert while it was under construction, she was "green with envy."

Divert opens in Longview

At the center of Divert Inc.'s state-of-the-art clean energy facility is a 3 million gallon anaerobic digester tank that converts liquid derived from locally sourced food waste into energy that can be directly added to the Cascade Natural Gas pipeline.

"Why can't we have one of these in Metro?" Lewis said. "Good job, mayor!"

The company says the facility uses new, proprietary technologies to convert waste collected from grocery stores and other food providers into renewable natural gas that taps directly into the Cascade Natural Gas system. And Divert has other sustainable products in its pipeline, such as plans to sell a nitrogen-rich, microplastic-free fertilizer.

Food that rots in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas when released back into the atmosphere. Turning that into a biogas that can be piped back into the energy grid creates a carbon-negative product, according to the company. At full capacity, the company says the Longview facility could process up to 100,000 tons of unsold, non-donatable food per year and generate enough natural gas to power as many as 3,200 homes per year and 225 tons of fertilizer - enough to grow 225 million pounds of apples.

Halvorson, in his address, referenced the speech that then-mayor MaryAlice Wallis made at the project's groundbreaking in 2023. She described the project as "just the kind of company" that founder R.A. Long would have envisioned when he planned Longview to "establish strong roots and thrive for years to come."

Halvorson said her words still ring true.

Divert opens in Longview

Longview Mayor Erik Halvorson thanked Divert for investing in Longview and having confidence in its community during the $100 million facility's grand opening ceremony Wednesday.

"And today we see those roots take hold," Halvorson said. He praised prior mayors Wallis and Spencer Boudreau for doing the "heavy lifting" and making the facility a reality.

Halvorson thanked city staff for their professionalism, the trades workers and contractors for their work, and Divert company leaders for choosing Longview.

"Thank you for your investment, your innovation and your confidence in the Longview community," Halvorson said.

A seasoned workforce

Chris Thomas, Divert's vice president of public affairs, said that one of the reasons they chose to build the facility in Longview was access to a "seasoned workforce."

He touched on talks with Mike Bridges, president of the Longview Kelso Building and Construction Trades Council, who told him the region's skilled labor would "relish the opportunity to build a project in their hometown instead of venturing off to projects in larger markets like Portland."

He said contractors have expressed similar sentiments, but it "didn't just stop with the building and construction trades." It also paid off hiring for "fulltime talent."

Divert opens in Longview

Divert's proprietary depackaging system is shown to a tour group during the Longview clean energy plant's grand opening and open house Wednesday. The 66,000 square foot facility at the Mint Farm drew community leaders from the Portland and Seattle area to get a closer look at the company's novel approaches to food waste.

The plant manager John Allen and human resources team "marveled over and over again at how many talented candidates we were able to find here compared to other markets in other regions that we've sought folks in."

The new location now employs around 35 people and plans to "ramp up" as partnerships with grocery chains and other food producers across Oregon and Washington grow.

Longview's facility is the latest generation in a system that Divert has been refining for the better part of two decades. The company opened a similar location in Turlock, California, at the end of 2024, and has another one under construction in Lexington, North Carolina, expected to open later this year.

Minimal odor inside

Longview's facility first went live in January, but according to Vice President and General Manager of Retail Teresa von Fuchs, who led The Daily News on a tour during the open house, Divert fully transitioned away from an older facility located in Albany, Oregon, in late March. Divert's Longview facility operates in three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, handling food waste collected through partnerships with local grocery stores and other food producers.

Divert opens in Longview

Rows of bins containing fresh food waste from grocery stores are shown cued up for the depackaging stage during an open house Wednesday at Divert's new Integrated Diversion and Energy Facility in Longview. The new $100 million facility drew roughly 150, including grocery executives and community leaders from across Washington and Oregon.

The interior of the food reclamation facility had a stale, vinegar-like odor from cut fruits and vegetables that were past their prime, but not rotting. It was similar to the stale beer smell inside a bottle recycling center.

As she stood by one of the dozens of disposal bins inside the facility, von Fuchs noted how much milder the smell was compared to a dump, a landfill, or a commercial compost operation. She attributed the mild smell to the quick turnaround, as the bins are picked up from grocery stores seven days a week and are typically processed within four hours of their arrival. There is not much time for the items to sit before the liquid is separated in the depackaging process, and the liquid is processed in the 3-million-gallon anaerobic digestion chamber.

Divert opens in Longview

Bins of food waste to be turned into clean natural gas is shown in this contributed photo. The new facility in Longview typically processes bins of food waste within four hours, and processes roughly 850 bins per day.

The food waste inside was fresh enough that during the tour, Divert representatives felt compelled to repeat several times a strict "no snacking" policy.

Each truck can handle about 50 bins, and the company averages about 12-15 trucks per day. Company officials say they hope to forge more grocery partnerships soon across Washington and Oregon.

PHOTOS: $100M biogas facility opens in Longview

Longview's facility first went live in January, but a tour guide on Wednesday said Divert fully transitioned from an older facility located in Albany, Oregon, in late March.

What's inside the bins?

Inside each bin were contents such as pineapple and watermelon rinds from a grocery store's produce department.

Tour guide von Fuchs highlighted that tags, produce stickers and other miscellaneous debris were no problem. In fact, the company's proprietary tumble "depackaging" system can handle grocery stores' inedible packaged bakery and deli items unsuitable for donation, and even pie tins. The facility can also work with frozen items, some dairy items such as yogurt, floral cuts and more.

Among the grocery chains, Divert partners include Albertsons and its subsidiary Safeway. Danielle Macias, senior director of sales and support for Albertsons Safeway Portland, was on the tour and emphasized that one of the benefits is that store staff don't need to remove items like inedible, expired yogurts from the package or take off the plastic stickers.

Divert opens in Longview

Food waste gets prepared for the depackaging stage in this photo contributed by Divert Inc.

"It's very simple," Macias said.

Other grocery partners include Kroger and its subsidiary Fred Meyer, according to an earlier news report.

Divert's business model is complex, according to Thomas, the VP of public affairs. The company offers data analytics and specialists to grocers and other food producers to help them minimize their food waste while paying for the raw materials used to generate the energy they pump directly into the Cascade Natural Gas system.

It also works closely with food banks and other partners, such as Feeding America, to ensure as much edible food as possible is used to feed people.

"That's what really separates us," Thomas said. "We're not in the waste space because we don't have just the incentive to maximize volume."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 4:27 AM.