Synthica St. Bernard

• Status: Under Construction
• EPA Permit to Install Issued 6/29/2021: Read More
• Plant Overview Video (Rendering): View Here
• Groundbreaking Drone Flyover Video
• Located at 5410 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH in the heart of “Ivorydale”
• Serving the Greater Cincinnati region
• Approx. 190,000 tons per year of food-derived feedstock
• Approx. 250,000 MMBtu of RNG/year
• Broke Ground in July 2023
• Commercial Operation in Q4 2024

Why St. Bernard?

Going back to early days of Ivorydale, St. Bernard has a storied past of being a manufacturing hub. Synthica St. Bernard will complement this history and provide a greener future for handling the necessary processing of organic food and manufacturing wastes. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is created by breaking down organic feedstocks from sources such as industrial food production and food scraps. All of these sources can be found in the St. Bernard and Greater Cincinnati area. We can essentially take food waste from manufacturing plants, which would typically be sent to the landfill or less sustainable disposal sites, and turn it into renewable natural gas pumped into the utility pipeline for use.

What are the benefits to the project? / Why is it important?

Companies looking to relocate are seeking out these greener solutions and will be attracted to the St. Bernard and Greater Cincinnati area, bringing additional jobs and tax revenue for the area. Once in place, this facility will divert 190,000 tons per year of waste from local landfills. Companies will have less distance to haul materials, lowering costs and cutting down on diesel emissions.

• Jobs: It is more and more common that companies are requiring/requesting options for organic disposal before they locate new manufacturing facilities. For example, large breweries and distilleries are commonly wanting to site near AD facilities due to their byproduct streams. In recent years, several large food producers have passed on the Cincinnati region as a site for locating their facilities due to lack of this critical infrastructure.
• Incentive for Expansion: Currently, because manufacturers in the region face extremely limited and expensive options for byproduct disposal, it places a limit on their capacity of what they can produce. With the added reliability and proximity of our digester, as well as the cost savings, they can look into expansion and growth of their facilities. This will lead to more jobs, less incentive to locate elsewhere, and a boost to the local economy.
• Lack of Any Local Digester Infrastructure: Currently there are no anaerobic digestion facilities within 60 miles of Cincinnati. This causes our region to be at a disadvantage when compared to other regions of the state such as Cleveland, Dayton, or Columbus, because it means operating a food manufacturing plant in our region is more expensive than other regions. In the near future, in the same way companies expect to have reliable electric and gas infrastructure when they site a location, they will expect to have easy outlets for organic waste disposal.
• Emissions Reductions: Fewer trucks driving longer distances to haul away wastes means that overall truck emissions in the region will be reduced.

Questions?