The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Applied Research Foundation released a report concluding that: a significant amount of additional food waste processing capacity will be required to achieve national, state, provincial, and local food waste diversion goals. The report also emphasizes the need for local decision-making in selecting and implementing those food waste diversion programs.
…a significant amount of additional food waste processing capacity will be required to achieve national, state, provincial, and local food waste diversion goals. The report also emphasizes the need for local decision-making in selecting and implementing those food waste diversion programs.
The report goes on to say that interest in recovering food waste from municipal solid waste is growing to meet goals established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture, but many major metropolitan areas lack the infrastructure to manage the ability to meet the established goals. Two examples were cited:
Several states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, condition their food waste diversion requirements on the ability of generators to access adequate capacity within a certain distance.
Speaking as SWANA’s Executive Director and CEO David Biderman stated:
We believe that Americans need to rethink how food is handled before it is considered waste, to divert it into programs to feed people, and to find other productive uses for food as food. Once it becomes waste, however, municipal decision-makers, working with their processing partners, need to determine how to best manage the material.
The SWANA report focuses on the effects of food recovery at the two lowest tiers of the hierarchy – composting and landfilling/incineration. The report concludes that food waste diverted from landfill operations has the potential to be processed at composting facilities. Then, going on to say that anaerobic digestion (AD) and co-digestion at wastewater treatment facilities are also likely destinations for diverted food waste.
Jeremy O’Brien, Director of the Applied Research Foundation, noted:
The food recovery hierarchy does not apply universally; an analysis of greenhouse gas impacts based on local data and conditions is needed to identify the best food scraps management options for a specific community.
The report encourages solid waste managers to perform a life cycle analysis of economic and environmental costs and benefits based on local needs, system capabilities, and data to identify the most effective ways to manage food waste at the local level.
SCS Engineers and SWANA are both long-time advocates for local decision-making in establishing programs to collect and manage municipal solid waste.
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Organic materials management is of high interest in our industry. This interest is being driven by state and city regulations and other government policies for diversion of organics from disposal facilities. Five states have food waste disposal bans, including Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island, which are in various stages of implementation. Some cities have food waste disposal bans, including San Francisco, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), and Austin. Many states and government agencies have organic diversion policies and goals; e.g., USEPA has a 50 percent reduction goal for food waste sent to landfills, nationwide, by 2030.
SCS is helping public and private entities evaluate their organic waste streams and the applicability of established and emerging technologies (e.g., composting, anaerobic digestion) to their specific communities and circumstances. Current and recent project examples include the following:
SCS is actively pursuing work in the organics materials management sector and has a staff devoted to staying current with the latest trends and technologies. SCS can evaluate, design, permit, construct and operate organics facilities, using varying technologies. Compost technologies that SCS is considering for implementation include:
Anaerobic digestion (AD) technologies that SCS is considering for implementation include high solids (dry) or low solids (wet) systems. High solids/dry systems are applicable for food and yard waste. Dry systems for food and yard waste generally use tunnels, which are gas-tight, concrete, garage-like chambers and are loaded using front-end loaders. Low solids/wet systems are applicable for manure, sludges, and liquid industrial waste. Wet systems generally use vessels, which are mixed and are fed using pumps.
Learn more about these SCS services.
