Food Waste Recovery

Practical Solution

The “How To”

 

Ways to Reduce Food Waste

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers several ways individuals can reduce the amount of food they waste. Some ways to reduce wasted food are listed below. 

• Cook or eat what you already have at home before buying more.
• Plan your menu before you go shopping and only buy what is on the list. 
• Do not buy in bulk unless you are able and plan to use it all.
• Donate unused, untouched food to food banks.
• Compost food scraps rather than throwing them away.

 

Donating Unused, Untouched Food

One of the easiest ways to prevent food waste is to donate any extra, untouched food items you have purchased but you will not use. Throughout the St. Louis region, there are many places that will accept food donations including Operation Food Search, the St. Louis Area Food Bank, and Feeding Illinois. Donating your extra food is an easy way to not only reduce food waste, but to also help others within the community.

 

Composting Food Waste

Compost is organic matter that when added to soil helps plants grow. Food scraps and yard waste are perfect composting materials. Composting is a simple and time efficient method to manage yard waste, and turn it into fertilizer. Organic matter in compost improves soil aeration, root penetration, water infiltration, and reduces crusting of the soil surface. Compost will occur naturally, and there are certain devices and methods that can be used to start and aid the composting process. St. Louis County has information on how to compost and facilities that accept compost such as St. Louis Composting.

 

Food Waste Recycling Ordinances and Legislation

In 2012, the Vermont legislature unanimously passed Act 148 which is a universal recycling and composting law. Along with cardboard, paper, and plastic recycling legislation, the Act aims to forbid food scraps from going into landfills by July, 2020. 

Section 9-3.5 of the Revised Ordinances of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii requires certain hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals, food courts, and food manufacturers and processors to compost food waste. 

 

Food Waste Harms the Environment

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, rotting food in landfills releases methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential than that of carbon dioxide. Landfills account for more than 20 percent of all methane emissions. Preventing food waste from entering landfills is not only good for your wallet, but good for the environment, as well. 

Content updates to this page made possible by funding provided by the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Case Studies

Food Waste Composting

• Contact

  Tom Flood
  Properties and Sustainability Manager
  314-443-9374
  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Description

  Schlafly restaurants began a food waste recovery project when they received a grant from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District in 2009. It was a pilot composting grant (Post-consumer Food Waste Composting) in that plate scrapings (post-consumer) from the restaurants (in addition to all other food -- including meat, bones, dairy, baked products, etc., were collected and sent to a commercial composting operation. This did not include vegetable and fruit preps scraps at the Bottleworks, which are composted on-site at the Gardenworks restaurant garden. In the current program, food scraps are brought back to the kitchen dishwashing area when tables are cleared. The plates are then scraped into green bins, as are scraps from the food preparation area. Those are then emptied into the yellow totes provided by Blue Skies Recycling. The Bottleworks Restaurant also uses compostable straws.

  Cost

  Some facilities can offset the charges for separate collection of food waste by using smaller trash dumpsters. Separate collection of organics costs approximately two to three thousand dollars a year.

  Lessons Learned

  One of the challenges is to minimize contamination through signs and visible containers. The realities of busy restaurants are pretty crazy, so even well-intentioned employees can put things into the compost bins that don’t belong.

  Metal dumpsters don't work well for food waste due to difficulty in cleaning, moving around, and the odor. Blue Skies Recycling provides 65 gallon totes for compostables. When these are collected, they drop off clean ones at the same time. The amount of totes and frequency of service are based upon need. The totes are not leaky or messy and the smell – an issue in the warmer months – is kept in check by the lids.

Integration of Additional Organics into Yard Waste Collection

• Contact

  Mike Pratt P.E.
  Director of Public Works
  314-290-8545
  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Description

  Clayton residents include compostable materials with yard waste for pickup. Compostable materials include leaves, sod, grass clippings, wood chips, saw dust, vegetables, fruit, paper, straw, empty egg shells, hair, dryer lint, coffee grounds, tea leaves and vacuum cleaner dust.

  Cost

  The City of Clayton added additional organics to the yard waste collection program at no additional cost.

  Lessons Learned

  The City of Clayton has not experienced any problems by adding additional organics to the yard waste collection program.