Untitled Essay, Research Paper

COMPOSTING AND THE GROCERY INDUSTRY The undermentioned bulletin was prepared from Grocery Industry Committee on Solid Waste October 24, 1991 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Solid waste composting is an of import constituent of an incorporate solution for solid waste direction. Composting can deviate organic, compostable stuffs, non otherwise recycled, from the solid waste watercourse and change over them into a utile merchandise. Composting is environmentally sound, technically and economically executable and meets local waste direction needs. This study, from the Grocery Compost Task Force to the Grocery Industry Committee on Solid Waste ( GICSW ) , is intended to set up composting as a feasible and sustainable constituent of an incorporate solution for solid waste direction. To make this the industry supports the development of composting systems for food market makers and retail merchants, and the development of the back uping substructure. Composting can manage from 30 to 60 per centum of all municipal solid waste, including nutrient waste, yard waste and paper and paperboard waste. The food market industry is committed to a high degree of merchandise stewardship. This committedness includes the environmentally sound direction of wastes generated at the retail levl every bit good as wastes from food market merchandises after they have been sold and used by consumers. Much of this waste is organic in nature and landfilled. From a merchandise stewardship perspective the food market industry believes that composting is a more environmentally sound direction pattern than disposal for pull offing these wastes. While individual watercourse and segregated watercourse composting may be more readily available for many makers & # 8217 ; and retail merchants & # 8217 ; ain waste, MSW composting is an attractive option for waste created by consumers. This study focuses on food market retail merchant composting plans, but will besides turn to ends and plans for makers. Food waste plus moisture and waxed corrugated from retail merchants entirely histories for 6.6 million dozenss per twelvemonth of waste that could be composted instead than discarded, which is about 4 per centum of all municipal solid waste ( MSW ) . Disposal of those wastes costs the food market retail merchants $ 482 million per twelvemonth, eating up the pre-tax net incomes from $ 34 billion of food market retail gross revenues. All nutrient waste produced straight by makers and retail merchants, every bit good as place nutrient waste produced by grocer shoppers, comprises about 20 per centum of the full food market industry & # 8217 ; s wastes. On a shop degree, over 90 per centum of the solid waste is deemed by this undertaking force to be most representative of a & # 8220 ; typical & # 8221 ; shop, produce 43 per centum of their waste as nutrient waste. Almost all corrugated is reclaimable or compostable. 30 per centum of the corrugated produced by a food market shop is either moisture or waxed, preventing its recyclabiliy. Composting can accomplish of import benefits for the food market industry including: 1. Meeting the demands of food market clients who are demanding more environmentally sound and responsible ways of pull offing solid waste ; 2. Proactively commanding waste disposal tunnage and disbursals ; 3. Supporting governmental enterprises for landfill recreation and material recovery ; 4. Promoting recycling of other stuffs ; and 5. Making the best usage of natural and semisynthetic resources by change overing organic waste into compost alternatively of landfilling them. Each food market industry installation should measure how best to manage its compostable waste. As detailed in the study, there are several possible attacks to manage assorted organics from the solid waste watercourse. Regardless of the attack, it is of import for the industry to assist set up a composting substructure. Market development is a cardinal component of this substructure and the food market industry supports market development enterprises. Depending upon the compost plan, compost processors may necessitate or prefer source-separated homogenous nutrient wastes to obtain maximal control over end-product quality. Source-separated stuffs may hold greater value to the terminal user because of the compaction and preparedness for processing, and hence may take to lowest aggregation and processing costs for the generator. For food market retail merchants, this study focuses on unintegrated watercourse composting. Because the industry can bring forth a source-separated merchandise, free of harmful wastes and comparatively free of inert stuffs, it can easy be integrated into whichever composting plan is most likely to be available locally. This study explains the assorted ways to manage, roll up, conveyance and procedure food market shop wastes for composting. In general, the GICW recommentds: * Collection of compostables in dedicated barrels ; * Pickup and transit of the compostables either by lading barrels into a truck or by emptying the barrels into a dedicated Dumpster or compactor for aggregation by a haulier ; * Composting at the best locally available site ; and * Careful preparation of shop employees to maximise engagement and minimise taint. Several specific recommendations turn toing issues such as economic analysis, wellness issues, installation flexibleness and recommended execution stairss are included. This study besides discusses Municipal Solid Waste ( MSW ) composting. MSW composting, as described here, refers to the composting of residential and commercial separated assorted organic waste, with the recyclables and other noncompostable stuffs removed. Separation may happen at curbside or the waste may non be transported by conventional waste vehicles to a cardinal site for the site separation of compostable stuffs from noncompostable stuffs. There are 15 MSW composting installations presently available in the U. S. Another 150 are in assorted phases of planning or development ( a new MSW installation can take 3-4 old ages to site, physique and go operational ) . Where they do be, they should be considered by grocers for composting. The handiness of an organic fraction from the food market industry will be added drift for development of community based installations. The assorted organics method of roll uping compostables should necessitate small or no alteration in supermarket operating methods since stuff separation is accomplished on the other terminal by the receiving system or stop user. All composting installations need to utilize the best engineering available to guarantee production of compost that is safe and marketable. Attention must be given to the separation of compostable stuffs from recyclables and noncompostable waste. Many province and local authoritiess, federal authorities through EPA and the Solid Waste Composting Council ( SWCC ) are turn toing composting. In add-on, composting. The GICSW should work with these entities toward the common end of developing composting as a feasible solid waste direction tool. In order to develop terminal markets, the food market industry should show and corroborate the good usage of compost and sharply advance the selling of the merchandise, specifically to cognize terminal users. Merchandise criterions and terminal markets for compost are in the early phases of development. Standards for end-product quality do non be on a federal degree but are get downing to be promulgated on a state-by-state footing. Presently market development is planned or in advancement in 11 provinces. The GICSW should go involved in market development, set uping science- based criterions, guaranting merchandise quality, set uping pilot plans and back uping compost statute law. Specifically, the GICSW can play a function in opening new mercantile establishments for compost in the agricultural community. The industry should travel towards puting and mensurating attainment of ends to back up the development of composting, such as: * The production of reclaimable and/or compostable consumer packaging. * The recovery, through composting, of an yearly intensifying proportion of maker and retail merchant wastes. * The recovery, through composting, of an yearly intensifying proportion of consumer wastes The food market industry should do a serious attempt to publicise the GICSW & # 8217 ; s environmental doctrine and actions, and to educate consumers, the general populace, the food market industry and the solid waste community. In all instances, the GICSW recommends utmost cautiousness against exaggerating any facts, expe

ctations or interpretations. The GICSW recommends that grocery manufacturers and retailers implement a list of specific action items as soon as possible in order to promote grocery industry composting. Composting is an important emerging solid waste management method that holds great promise for grocery manufacturers, retailers and communitites. As the cost of disposal spirals upward, and the economics of composting improve, composting is becoming an increasingly cost-effective means of controlling waste expenses. Composting is also a more environmentally responsible option than landfilling and grocery customers are constantly raising their level of expectations in favor of this kind of environmentally responsible behavior. This report should facilitate the successful implementation of new composting programs, and addresses policy issues that will support composting nationwide. 3.0 ROLE OF THE GROCERY INDUSTRY Significant Portion of the Waste System As shown in Exhibit A, RIS estimates that 19.5 percent of the solid waste generated directly or indirectly by the grocery industry by weight is food waste. This analysis includes manufacturers and retailers, as well as home waste from grocery shoppers. Containers and packaging represent a significant portion of the waste stream, some of which is organic and can be composted. While a grocery manufacturer’s compostable wastes are highly dependent upon the products made by that manufacturer at any given site, the compostable wastes from retailers are more consistent from one grocery store to another. Keeping regional differences in mind, grocery store compostable wastes include food waste, waxed and wet corrugated, bakery waste, dairy products, produce, floral seafood. From January through April 1991, FMI conducted a waste composition survey, with 27 food retailers and wholesalers responding. The data represented in these exhibits should serve only as a guide as waste compostion may vary depending on store format and offering. The survey respondents were separated into three groups: * wholesalers (Exhibit B); * large supermarket chains, definded as having more than 50 stores (Exhibit C); and * small supermarket chains having 50 or fewer stores (Exhibit D). According to this survey, over 90 percent of the waste generated by each of these categories is recyclable or compostable. Small chains showed a large proportion of their wastes were comprised of food wastes (43 percent). Wholesalers reported a small fraction of food waste, since the wholesalers surveyed generally did not trim or process perishable, unpackaged food as retailers often must do. The small fraction of food waste (10 percent) among large chains is likely due to the fact that many large chains have de facto wholesale facilities in-house, and so the relative proportion of corrugated is greater. This large corrugated proportion reduces the relative proportion for food waste to only 10 percent. However, if dry, non-waxed corrugated containers (OCC) are recycled, then between 75 percent and 90 percent of the remaining waste is compostable food waste and paper. (This percentage fluctuates depending upon how much wet and waxed OCC is available for composting rather than recycling.) Thus, even for a “large chain” that generates a relatively smaller percentage of food waste, the waste actually being disposed is mostly compostable. This task force believes that the composition shown for small chains (Exhibit D) is most likely to represent the composition of most typical retail grocery stores, excluding distribution and warehousing operations. Accordingly, it is significant that such a large percentage-43 percent- of this waste is compostable food waste. From a waste management perspective, recycling of food waste via composting at the retail level is as important as recycling corrugated boxes. The FMI composition survey did not differentiate between recycled, wet or waxed corrugated. Based on a sampling of three grocery stores in 1991, 70 percent of the corrugated containers are compostable (Exhibit E). These statistics enabled the task force to estimate the volume of compostable food waste, wet and waxed corrugated produced by grocery retailers at 6.6 million tons per year. * The conclusion is that the grocery industry as a whole is a large producer of wastes that are potentially very compostable. The compostable food waste and corrugated alone from grocery stores comprise nearly 4 percent of all municipal solid waste (MSW): * Retail grocery food waste, compostable wet and waxed corrugated /all MSW (EPA, 1990) = 6.6 million tons / 179.6 million tons = 3.7 percent. Financial Significance of Compostable Wastes Futhermore, disposal of these wastes is increasingly expensive. The National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA) has not completed its recent national landfill tip fee survey. However, extrapolating from the 1988 national average tip fee to 1991 based on the recent FMI disposal expense survey yields an average tip fee of $58 per ton for landfills. Tip fees for incinerators may be significantly higher. After adding a conservative hauling charge of $15 per ton, grocery retailers alone are paying $482 million each year to dispose of their compostable wastes: * 6.6 million tons per year of compostable wastes X ($58/ton tip fee + $15/ton hauling fee) = $481.8 million/year in grocery retailer disposal expense. To cover the expense needed to pay for their $482 million per year disposal cost of compostable wastes, grocery retailers must, at an FMI-estimated pre-tax net profit rate 14.3 percent of sales, sell $33.7 billion in groceries: *$481.8 million disposal expense / 1.43 percent pre-tax net profit = $33.7 billion in sales. Because individual grocery manufacturers have such product-specific waste streams, a similar expense for the industry overall is difficult to estimate. However, it is clear that, for retailers and manufacturers, the cost of disposal is spiraling upward. FMI documented a 26.6 percent increase in disposal costs for its members in 1988 and a 29.2 percent increase in 1989. This is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing expense items for manufacturers and retailers. It is interesting to note that by simply recycling corrugated boxes and composting all compostable wastes, a grocery store can reduce the amount of waste being landfilled by approximately by 89 percent (Exhibit D). The Composting Option Composting grocery store waste is an attractive option since this waste is consistent in quality and quantity. These materials compost readily and are especially effective when co-composted into existing programs with yard waste, wood waste, manure, with other clean corrugated. However, they are compostable and can provice necessary bulk to the composting process. By supporting and participationg in local composting operations, the industry can serve to encourage broad-based development of composting as an integral part of local solid waste management. Initially, pilot projects could serve as working examples that composting can be accomplished successfully in order to reduce the landfilling of grocery industry wastes. While grocery manufacturer and retailer wastes may be composted in a segregated stream process, MSW composting is an important option for the wider range of organic materials that are produced by other businesses and by grocery consumers. 4.0 GROCERY INDUSTRY OBJECTIVES The grocery industry can set an example for the community by practicing sound recycling and composting activities. Some significant objectives that the grocery industry can achieve by composting are: 1. Meeting demands of grocery consumers that stores and manufacturers be environmentally responsible; 2. Proactively controlling waste disposal tonnage and disposal expenses, which are increasing rapidly; 3. Supporting EPA, state and local government initiatives for landfill diversion and material recovery; 4. Encouraging and enhancing recycling of other recyclable materials, such as plastic, wood, glass and metal through improved separation; and 5. Making the best use of natural and man-made resources by converting organic waste into compost instead of landfilling them. Downloaded from Recycling: America BBS (818) 902-1477