BioCycle Magazine’s online database, located on the web at www.findacomposter.com.  The site — which was recently redesigned — offers a searchable database of companies which process organic waste.  Unfortunately, not all composters choose to list themselves so the database is incomplete.

The second is a new site located at www.helpmecompost.com.  It includes a searchable database, as well as blogs from organics industry experts.

Together, these sites are important resources for foodservice operators.

When using these databases, it’s important to communicate with prospective composters to confirm they accept commercial food waste (and not just yard waste or other items).  Once that has been established, additional communication will be necessary to assess:

• What hauling options they offer (if any), including pick-up frequency
• Whether they will accept compostable single-use products such as cups, plates and cutlery made from PLA, bagasse, or potato starch.   Do they accept all BPI certified products or do they have special requirements?
• How dothey respond to contamination?
• What type of training will they offer for your staff?
• Will they provide totes or other collection equipment at your site?
• What liners/bags do they accept?
• Would they prefer pulped product or not?
• What do the economics look like and how do they compare to your other options?
• What is their operating history?  Have they been cited, fined, or run into problems with odors, pests, etc?

These are important initial questions, which will lead to others.

Composting is an important mechanism to avoid putting food waste in landfills.    I encourage pairing composting with a strong waste prevention program (e.g. food waste tracking) so you reduce as much waste as possible and only have to compost the minimum amount.

Unfortunately, consumers didn’t accept the products because they perceived the bags to be excessively noisy.  Sales began to drop. PepsiCo recently announced they are shelving the compostable bag for five out of six Sun Chips flavors, retaining it only for the original Sun Chips flavor.

We can all hope this represents a temporary setback on the road to using more renewable, non-fossil-fuel based food packaging.

This example illustrates the proven reality that few, if any, environmental or social sustainability initiatives will actually be sustained if they are not also financially viable.   The balance between people, planet and profit must always be a part of any sustainability plan or initiative.

This is one of the reasons we, at LeanPath, are so excited about food waste prevention.  It is one of the clearest areas on the foodservice sustainability landscape which pays large dividends – financially, environmentally, and socially – quickly.

Check it out: http://food-management.com/business_topics/management/composting-solutions-garbage-gold-0610/

In fact, food waste prevention ranks at the very top of the EPAs food waste recovery hierarchy, well above other strategies including food recovery and composting. While each of these other elements are definitely valuable, waste prevention delivers the greatest benefits by far.

For example, by preventing and minimizing food waste:

• You save money. By controlling production and wasting less food, you purchase less or redeploy dollars toward higher priorities.

• You save staff time by being more efficient and not producing items you dont need.

• You save disposal costs by having less food waste volume and weight to haul away.

• You reduce resource demands on agricultural producers, allowing them to use less fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide and fuel.

• You reduce and avoid greenhouse gas emissions and toxicity from food waste downstream at landfills.

With powerful impact, why doesnt food waste prevention get more attention?

There are three reasons:

• Waste prevention isn’t visible or touchable. It’s hard to explain how the absence of something represents a huge victory when people generally want to see things in front of them.

• Some people don’t think they have much food waste or, if they do acknowledge it, believe they can’t do much to improve the situation. Of course, the reality is that every operation has actionable food waste and every operation has a chance to improve.

• Operators and consultants want to attack waste but they dont have any tools in their toolkit for waste prevention. The answer is simple and easy: the key to waste prevention is daily food waste tracking.

“We manage the things we measure.” By tracking food waste every day, you focus staff behavior and collect information to spot problems and opportunities.

Finally, food waste tracking and reporting gives you information that makes prevention highly visible and clearly illustrates the scope of the problem and the positive changes over time. Learn more about LeanPath food waste tracking systems: www.leanpath.com

This link will take you to the presentation for “ABC’s of Food Waste Management: Reduction and Diversion“:  http://www.leanpath.com/docs/LeanPath_NRA_ABCs_Food_Waste.pdf

This is the last of the three presentations.

Download Practice Greenhealth Guide here: Composting 10StepGuide

Practice Greenhealth offers many other excellent resources on waste management. Visit their site at www.practicegreenhealth.org.

The answer depends on who will handle the composting – keep in mind that many commercial composters handle yard waste but cannot or will not accept food. Those that do handle food waste will usually accept all food waste (pre-consumer and post-consumer) as well as plant-based compostable disposables (e.g. items made from plant materials such as corn, potato, cellulose, soy and sugar).

These waste streams should be free from contamination, and any disposable ware should be BPI-certified as compostable. The BPI “Compostable Label” indicates an item meets one of two science-based ASTM standards. To qualify as compostable, the item must break down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass at the same rate as paper. The final product needs to disintegrate to established levels, cannot exceed toxicity limits and must be able to support plant life. Some commercial composters have more stringent requirements than the BPI label, so check your compostable disposable choices with your composting partner to be certain.

Keep in mind: just because an item claims it is “biodegradable” does not mean it is “compostable.”

Resources:

• Biodegradable Products Institute

• Healthcare Without Harm Guide to Bio-based Service Ware

Originally established in 1995, Compost Awareness Week serves the important role of bringing the Compost! message to the attention of the public, business and other groups. Communities, government agencies as well as members of the composting industry utilize the week to promote their specific Compost! messages and programs. The week is designed to promote the benefits of composting and compost use for sustainable resource management, soil health and plant growth.

Be a part of the largest environmental education event for compost and the use of biobased products and renewable resources for “greening” America.

The USCC will be developing a list of ICAW activities, proclamations and press releases for states, counties, and cities, and Public Service Announcements for the event.  Additional information as well as sponsor advertising and recognition will be placed on the USCC website www.compostingcouncil.org

Check out these other sites for general information about composting in your area:

Find-A-Composter: www.findacomposter.com Just click on the drop down menu to find composters in your area.

Pollution Prevention Resource Change:  They provide easy access to pollution prevention and waste reduction.  There are eight P2RX centers around the country.  Check out the main website to get general information and specific links to your area.  www.p2rx.org

* That’s an impossible goal, we can’t run out of food! How can we reduce food waste to zero when we have no control over guests and it’s difficult to match production and demand perfectly?

* That’s an easy goal, I’ll just send everything to composting! If you put all your food waste in compost you can legitimately claim that you are sending “zero waste” to the landfill.

The reality is that achieving “true” zero food waste lives somewhere between these two perspectives.

Yes, you are headed in the right direction to become a “Zero Food Waste” operation by composting and sending zero food waste to a landfill. Composting takes effort but it delivers major benefits by reducing methane gas emissions at landfills.

However, even if you compost 100% of your pre and post-consumer food waste, you can’t declare victory and move on. Why not? Because composting is food waste diversion; it is not food waste reduction.

Definition of Zero Waste: to minimize waste, reduce consumption, maximize recycling/diversion and ensure that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace. In other words, aiming to eliminate rather than manage waste.

A true “Zero Food Waste” initiative requires that you focus on both reduction and diversion. If you view composting as an excuse for not having a food waste reduction program, you are missing an opportunity and may inadvertently “greenwash” the situation.

So what does a waste reduction program involve? The core element is food waste tracking – daily tracking for pre-consumer food waste and periodically for post-consumer waste. If you can’t measure your food waste, you can’t begin to manage it. Once you start tracking food waste, you have the ability to focus employees and guests on the issue, diagnose problems and set goals for improvement.

So, is Zero Food Waste possible? Absolutely. Provided you are focusing on source reduction (through food waste tracking) and have a full composting program for pre and post-consumer food waste.

More Information:

Food Waste Tracking Systems: Visit www.leanpath.com

Composting Information: Visit www.findacomposter.com

Excerpt from LeanPath’s Food Waste Flyer Vol. 6   http://www.leanpath.com/lpweb/newsletter_vol_6.htm

Check out these TWO webinars provided by SFM:

Project Management for Green Initiatives

Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. EST

http://www.sfm-online.org/Women_Council_LeadershipLink_Webinar.htm

(Added Benefit: Includes two Planning Exercises: Composting and Energy Efficiency)

“Have you been asked recently, to create and implement a sustainability initiative for your company or client and had little idea about where to begin? Sometimes initiating a new program can seem overwhelming, particularly when it is an add-on to your regular responsibilities. Where do you begin, whose buy-in do you need, when do you follow-up, how do you monitor and define success?

If you are one of the many people who have asked these questions, this upcoming webinar will have timely, useful information for you. It will give you an outline and step-by-step training on Project Planning.”

Redefining Foodservice Waste Management: What’s Next?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

3 p.m. – 4 p.m. EST

http://www.sfm-online.org/Program_Committee_Webinar.htm

“With these challenging economic times – and in a society increasingly focused on sustainability – it’s no longer advisable for food service operators to treat waste as a peripheral concern. We spend massive dollars to purchase food and supplies that become waste and our discards makes a huge, negative impact on both our financial results and the environment. Cutting waste makes sense – and it also happens to be one of the least painful places to remove costs, avoiding the negative shockwaves of staff reductions or menu changes.

For these reasons, operators should be making waste management one of their top priorities. This starts by redefining their mental model to recognize waste management is not about garbage – it’s about reforming inefficient policies, procedures, and behaviors that lead to many types of waste.”

Check out these FIVE webinars provided by the EPA:

Food waste is the third largest stream of waste in the U.S. after paper and yard waste. The social, economic, and environmental impacts of food waste are enormous, including increased generation of greenhouse gas, negative impacts on sanitation and health, and the loss of potential improvements in soil health and food production. To help address these impacts, EPA Region 2 is partnering with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group at Rutgers University to offer a series of webinars designed to provide education on the best avenues and methods of food waste management. Generators of food waste, government representatives, and public stakeholders are encouraged to participate.

February 23

Overview of Food Waste, Climate Change Connection, and Waste Audits

March 10

Separation and Collection of Food Waste

March 17

Waste Reduction through Reuse

March 31

Composting and End-of-Life Management

April 7

Putting the Pieces Together and EPA Tools

For registration and information on the webinars above, please visit: www.trainex.org/FoodWaste