The city of Santa Barbara and a South Coast company have reached an exclusive agreement for the disposal of fats, oils, and grease from restaurants.
Since 2013, MarBorg has been on a pilot program to handle the FOG (fat, oil, grease) waste produced by the city.
The initial city council report recommended Coastal Byproducts, an Oxnard-based company, to share the contract with MarBorg.
Despite the recommendation, the council voted 5-2 in favor of MarBorg, reasoning that not only was MarBorg already in a contract with the city, but that MarBorg was a local company, and that would reduce the number of trucks on the road.
MarBorg says it has invested more than $400,000 in a treatment system, and plans to expand its operations to handle the new waste.