Another potential North Jacksonville site surfaced for Divert Inc., a West Concord, Massachusetts-based technology company that converts food waste into energy.
Divert Inc. has been identified in JEA records as a prospect for plant sites, and the latest is on part of a 44.74-acre parcel at 11370 New Berlin Road.
JEA issued a service availability determination letter Feb. 23 for Divert Inc. at the site for an integrated food waste recovery facility, which would process waste food from grocery stores and other sources by anaerobic digestion.
The site is east of New Berlin Road near Faye Road, east of Interstate 295.
The land is owned by Faye Road Associates LLC of Allendale, New Jersey, in care of V. Paulius & Associates at the same address.
Part of the site is designated for Axionlog, the Argentina-based global restaurant supplier approved to develop 37,763 square feet of freezer and dry storage space designed for expansion to almost 105,000 square feet.
The city issued a permit in July 2020 to clear 16.53 acres at 11370 New Berlin Road for Axionlog. The foundation permit was for a building on 8.76 acres. The city approved the construction permit in June 2021.
V. Paulius & Associates is the contractor.
The port of choice
JaxPort announced Feb. 25, 2020, that Axionlog chose it as the port of choice to ship its U.S. manufactured exports bound for Latin America.
Divert previously applied to JEA to determine the service availability at three vacant North Jacksonville sites along Gun Club Road, Alta Drive and Alton Box Road.
JEA issued letters of availability in November and December.
A spokesperson for Divert Inc. said Jan. 3 that the company is in the early phase of determining its potential in Northeast Florida.
“Divert cannot comment on Jacksonville at this time,” said the spokesperson.
“Divert is still in the very early phases of planning for any projects in northern Florida and can’t share anything more.”
The spokesperson said Feb. 26 that “Divert is not able to comment on the JEA availability determination letter at this time.”
The 230 Gun Club Road site, north of Zoo Parkway/Heckscher Drive, is 40.6 acres. A marketing brochure for the land shows that about 32 acres at northeast Gun Club Road and Busch Drive is for sale. The Duval County Property Appraiser shows the site is owned by Intermodal Equipment Services LLC, Gun Club Road Holdings LLC and Ark Property Investments LLC.
The Alton Box Road site is 14.95 acres west of North Main Street. It is owned by Peter J. Burkhalter and Howard E. Burkhalter Jr.
The Alta Drive site, smaller at 5.75 acres, is owned by The Signature Center LLC of Longboat Key. It is next to Port Jax Trade Center along Port Industrial Drive.
A JEA availability request indicates that a company is exploring a project but does not mean a deal is in negotiation.
JEA says that many companies submit service availability requests for multiple properties as part of the site selection process.
“Anyone can complete a service availability request for a property without notifying the property owner. However, JEA requires an agent’s authorization from the property owner for construction plan review submittals,” said JEA Director of Content and Media Relations Karen McAllister.
Divert’s plans
With a $1 billion commitment from a Canadian pipeline operator, Divert has announced it expects to add 30 sites by 2031, but has not disclosed the locations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says anaerobic digestion is the natural process in which microorganisms break down organic materials, such as food scraps, grease and biosolids. The process produces biogas, a renewable energy source.
Divert says it has 13 operational facilities, including anaerobic digestion facilities, serving customers in 25 states. The spokesperson said it is “a stage of rapid expansion, with 2 AD projects under construction in California and Washington and another 4 in development.”
Those four development sites were not disclosed.
Divert has said it works with nearly 5,400 retail stores to process wasted food. It acquires unsold food from retailers that include branches of Kroger, Albertsons, CVS and Target.
The spokesperson said Divert has processed more than 2.6 billion pounds of food since it started in 2007.
As of March 2023, Divert was converting food into renewable biogas at two anaerobic digestion facilities in Los Angeles and Freetown, Massachusetts.
The company also had eight facilities where packaged food is prepared for third-party organics processing.
In 2021, Divert was acquired by Ara Partners, a Houston-based global private equity firm specializing in industrial decarbonization investments.
On Feb. 8, Divert announced that in 2023, it increased food donations to people in need in 2023 through its work with retail partners.
It said it “facilitated the donation of an additional 200,000 meals, a 10% increase in food donations year-over-year.”
In total, the company donated 2.4 million pounds of food, the equivalent of around 2 million meals, through partners around the country, including Feeding America partner organizations.
The company also broke ground on two Diversion and Energy Facilities in Turlock, California, and Longview, Washington. It said each will have the capacity to process 100,000 tons of wasted food a year.
The company added three operational facilities, with 13 total operational facilities serving customers in 25 states. The company processed more than 384 million pounds of waste over 12 months.
It said it expects to break ground in 2024 on several additional facilities in the Northeast and Southeast, but did not identify where.