Pre- and Post- Consumer Composting. Group 4A: Tessa Calahan, Mia Bertacchi, Sendy Vo, Jana Wong

Transcription

1 Pre- and Post- Consumer Composting Group 4A: Tessa Calahan, Mia Bertacchi, Sendy Vo, Jana Wong

2 What is Compost? Definition: a mixture of decaying organic matter used to improve soil structure while providing nutrients

3 Pre- vs. Post- Consumer Composting Pre-Consumer Composting o o compostable paper food waste: plant refuse uneaten food parts Source: Earth Machine

4 Pre- vs. Post- Consumer Composting Post-Consumer Composting o o scraps: uneaten foods used napkins, plates

5 What happens if we don t compost? Biodegradable food gets trapped under piles of trash in landfills Without oxygen and water, natural decomposers cannot survive to degrade materials o biodegradable food releases methane gas instead Source: SF Environment

6 How to Compost Source: Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Center

7 Composting Trend Source: Google books: Ngram Viewer

8 UC System Policy Sustainable Practices - Waste Management Diverting solid waste from landfills o o Goals: 2008: 50% diversion 2012: 75% diversion 2020: Zero waste 2012 report: All campuses met 50% diversion; only Davis, Irvine, and LA have met 75% diversion goal

9 UC System Policy cont. In order to meet goals, primary methods being used: o o o o Reduce Reuse Compost Recycle

10 STARS Program Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, Rating System Universities gather & report data publicly to the program o Scored in various categories Operations, Education/Research, Planning, Innovation, Supplemental Pre&Post-consumer composting, waste diversion, etc. are big parts of the Operations category

11 STARS Program Rankings 51 total institutions ranked gold o UC Davis is GOLD Obtained full points for pre and post-consumer food waste composting, scored well in other waste management strategies Scored well in many categories, but with all the institutions, there is room for improvement

12 UC Davis Composting ASUCD launched pre-consumer composting in dining hall kitchens o 22,000+ pounds of organic matter per month Tercero started post-consumer composting, spread to all dining halls in Aggie Stadium launched as zero waste center o Concessions sold in compostable/recyclable material

13 UC Davis Composting Today Pre-consumer food waste collected by Project Compost UCD Student Farm Pre and post-consumer waste collected by Dining Services sent to Zamora Composting Facility o Dining Halls, Catering Services, Gunrock Pub, Aggie Stadium

14 UC Davis Post-Consumer Composting

15 UC Davis Post-Consumer Composting

16 Other UC Campus Strategies 100% Biodegradable to-go containers UCB, UCI Campus compost collecting UCSB, UCR, UCSD, UCSC

17 Grounds to Grounds UCSB, UCR Weigh Your Waste UCI, UCD, UCSC

18 UCM Reusable food containers that can be recycles 28 tons of UCM garbage turned to compost in 2012 Re-usable go containers with dispensing machines o pay a deposit which is refunded when containers are returned

19 Other Local Strategies Used Hospitals UCDMC & UCSFMC: 2011 implemented compostable serveware & put in garbage bins specifically for compostable waste in their cafeterias. CHOMP: Invested in an onsite state-of-the-art dehydration machine to use on food waste so they could bypass having to send out their compost to an outside vendor

20 Sodexo Pre-Consumer waste strategy: LeanPath used to track the amount of food waste within colleges and universities with the goal of raising awareness and increasing efficiency to ultimately decrease waste Sysco Participating suppliers are asked to report the amount of vegetative waste they reuse through composting or using it as animal feed. In 2011 participants reported reusing 7 million tons of resources had been reused.

21 City of Davis Commercial Food Scrap Pilot Program Allows restaurants and facilities to set aside their compostable goods for pickup by Davis Waste Removal twice per week o Blue Oak Energy o Sutter Davis Hospital o Caffé Italia o South Davis Nugget Market o Ciocolat o Davis Joint Unified School o Davis Farmers Market District Student Nutrition o Davis Food Co-op Services o Dos Coyotes (both locations) o Natural Food Works o Hallmark Inn o Delta of Venus o Mustard Seed o Osteria Fasulo o Seasons o Village Bakery o Village Pizza & Grill

22 Pros Reduce waste disposal fees Reduces need for landfill space Closes food waste loop by returning it to agriculture Ends waste of recyclable raw ingredients Recycles nutrients back into the soil

23 Pros Reduces need for chemical products that may pollute water Can sell compost products to local farmers Market establishment: environmentally conscious one that assists local farmers and the community

24 Cons Initial setup costs Finding or establishing compost location Transportation costs to compost facility (e.g Zamora 30 mi away from UCD) Educating staff and customers on process

25 Cons Smell of composting May attract flies and pests if not actively managed or protected Time to compost (can take up to a year)

26 Discussion Questions How can we better inform food service sites to implement composting strategies? How can food service sites implement new strategies of pre-consumer composting effectively and/or efficiently? Post-consumer composting? What are ways we can help reduce the cons of composting in food facilities?