Food waste in landfills continues to encompass a sizeable portion of greenhouse gas emissions each year. While organics recycling programs are not new, improved understanding of the challenges and possibilities associated with these programs can help transform perceived complications in the process into an economic and environmental boon within a circular economy.
By Shi Chao Zheng
You have likely heard of the dining concept 鈥渇rom farm to table,鈥� but let鈥檚 reconsider that saying to coin a phrase that is more applicable to waste and recycling鈥攁n expression that describes how to repurpose those leftover food scraps from the meal in an environmentally conscious way. Instead, 鈥渇rom field to fertilizer鈥� is a general yet relatively apt way to conceptualize how organics management programs fit into to the broader framework of a circular economy, meaning that food waste or food byproducts set to be discarded can be recycled, repurposed or resold.
A New Purpose
Organic waste includes any material derived from plants or animals that will naturally decompose or break down over time. Food scraps, tree branches, leaves, lawn clippings, and other yard trimmings are all in this category and are considered types of organic waste.
When recycled or composted, these organic materials can serve a new purpose within a broader and cyclical lifecycle. Organic waste can be used to create new energy and power sources as biogas and biofuels that generate electricity and renewable energy. Food waste can also take on new life, repurposed as soil, soil additives or mulch to regrow healthy plants and vegetables for your next meal. However, food and food scraps can pose the most harm to the environment when not diverted from a landfill through an organic recycling program.
According to data released last year from the Environmental Protection Agency, wasted food accounts for roughly 鈥�58 percent of methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills.鈥� This high percentage is caused by foods鈥� ability to break down relatively quickly once in the landfill, and this rapid decay generates methane, a greenhouse gas and leading contributor to the warming of the climate. A similar statistic from the EPA notes that greenhouse gas emissions caused from wasted food in the U.S. equates to emissions generated from more than 50 million gas-powered vehicles, underscoring the environmental risks when organic waste is not disposed or diverted properly, namely through facilities equipped to handle organic materials or anaerobic digestion.
Access and Investment in Facilities
Organics recycling programs are not new, but program adoption rates for businesses, especially organizations outside of coastal areas in the U.S. where specific regulations are in place, is not as widespread. This slow but steady adoption can be attributed to a lack of specific mandates that enforce these disposal practices, but it is also mainly due to a shortage of facilities that can process organic waste on a large scale.
The two main types of facilities best equipped to handle organic waste are industrial composters and anaerobic digesters. While an industrial composter is better equipped to process a wider range of materials鈥攊ncluding food waste, yard waste, wood chippings and compostable plastics鈥攁naerobic digesters or reactors can only process a more specific variety of organic materials, such as food scraps, grains, fats, and other food processing waste.
Limited access to these facilities, coupled with specific parameters around the materials that are accepted, can present a complicated roadmap for widespread implementation across certain footprints, but managed waste providers with teams of dedicated recycling specialists on hand can certainly help navigate that terrain until the availability of these facilities is more commonplace鈥攖here is always an option to start small and scale up over time depending on current waste streams and volume.
More investment and reinforcement of the long-term economic and environmental benefits may be critical for renewed growth in the industry, but as more facilities come online, this predicament may change in the next several years. This would open the door even further for managed waste providers to design and support organizations with more full-scale organics recycling programs that keep food particles out of the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Even without the presence of an industrial composter or anaerobic digestor willing to take in organic waste, there are still other ways to meaningfully contribute to the organics recycling process. Many municipalities have food donation programs in place, so it is worthwhile to always double-check and donate leftover food deemed safe for consumption rather than tossing it in the trash.
Improved Communication
One of the most important elements to ensuring recycled organic waste can meet its full, circuitous lifecycle is improved education to help consumers see the positive potential in the process rather than a perceived mindset that is one more obstacle in their day. Continuous education allows teams to better understand how an organics program minimizes environmental impact, as well as their individual role in impacting sustainability.
Simple additions to front- and back-of-house operations鈥攕uch as posting clear signage and labels in and around high-traffic areas and on recycling bins or equipment that indicate which materials are and are not accepted鈥攃an help reinforce organic recycling behaviors while reducing the risk of contaminating the waste stream. To put it in perspective, many compostable utensils look very similar to plastic utensils鈥攐ne can be recycled in an organic waste stream and the other cannot鈥攁nd use pictures to help clearly indicate which can be tossed in the organics bin.
Also consider establishing streamlined and easily adaptable internal communications guidelines to disclose when onboarding new team members and be sure to revisit those protocols by sharing helpful reminders periodically throughout the year. Having procedures clearly outlined and documented enforces accountability and supports long-term retention of organics recycling best practices even as staff levels may fluctuate.
Increased Adoption
Amid growing levels of generated food waste, staying steadfast and committed to organic waste recycling is invaluable, as a circular economy model is simply not feasible without further education, increased adoption of organics recycling programs, and a positive mindset that a few extra steps in the everyday waste disposal process can support sustainable change. For further guidance or to identify access to organics recycling services and facilities, consider consulting with a professionally managed waste services provider to audit current waste streams, review options and design a program that addresses achievable goals to transform organic waste from 鈥渇ield to fertilizer.鈥� | WA
Shi Chao Zheng is a senior recycling specialist at Waste Harmonics + Keter Environmental Services, where he works directly with customers to support their waste diversion goals. He has more than eight years of experience in the waste management industry, creating custom recycling programs for commercial retail, commercial office and industrial clients, including specializations in waste program design and implementation, employee training and waste audits. Zheng holds a master鈥檚 degree in sustainability management and is also a certified TRUE Advisor.
Waste Harmonics is a unique, technology-enabled managed service provider in the waste industry. The company manages waste contracts and third-party vendors, and ultimately helps customers with what every business generates: waste. Waste Harmonics creates customized, technology-driven program solutions that address waste generator expectations and requirements, dealing with single-source management of service suppliers, quality of service, reduction of costs, data and reporting analytics, consolidated invoicing and landfill diversion. Waste Harmonics works with diverse business clients across North America to deliver cost savings, consolidation of invoicing and communications, and recycling and sustainability strategies. For more information, call (585) 924-9640, e-mail [email protected] or visit .
Keter Environmental Services is a data-first recycling and waste management company that provides first-class sustainable recycling and waste programs nationwide. Keter works with forward-thinking companies who understand that increasing landfill diversion rates, improving operational efficiency, and using technology for data and reporting are crucial to an effective and sustainable business strategy. Keter approaches every opportunity with the knowledge that each company they work with is unique in its waste streams, needs, goals and challenges. For more information, visit keteres.com.
Resource
epa.gov/land-research/quantifying-methane-emissions-landfilled-food-waste