Big Business and Food Waste
Earlier this year, the Center for Biological Diversity analyzed the food waste practices of 10 major grocery store chains. The report’s authors gave each store a letter grade based on its accountability, prevention and recovery/recycling efforts around food waste. Only one chain, Walmart, was awarded a B. The other nine earned Cs, Ds and Fs. Aldi brought up the rear with failing grades on all fronts, earning three out of 11 possible points for recovery and recycling.
Of course, grocery stores aren’t the only big businesses that have a problem preventing and dealing with food waste. Restaurants contend with huge amounts of organic waste. So do hospitals, cafeterias, convenience stores and other businesses that sell and serve perishable food. Unsurprisingly, businesses that sell food are responsible for a significant portion of food waste in this country – 40 percent, according to ReFED. (Private homes are responsible for 43 percent of American food waste.)
But where does all that waste end up?
Grocery stores, cafeterias, restaurants and other businesses have historically hesitated to donate unused food to food pantries and the homeless because of logistical and legal concerns. Perfectly good food would get tossed into dumpsters each night along with food scraps and other organic waste. Food that could have fed the hungry, enriched the soil or been converted into energy would instead be left to rot in landfills.
That’s still happening in many parts of the U.S. But here in Massachusetts, reducing food waste isn’t just a matter of ethics – it’s a matter of law. In 2014 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) implemented a Commercial Food Material Disposal Ban. It’s part of a larger plan to cut 35 percent of all Massachusetts food waste by 2020. Under the ban, businesses that generate more than 1 ton of food and organic waste per week are required to find alternate ways of recycling or repurposing the waste instead of landfilling it.
Alternative Food Waste Solutions
The implementation of the food disposal ban has prompted some Massachusetts businesses to find creative solutions. In 2014, Massachusetts General Hospital – which serves meals to more than 12,000 people each day – teamed up with Agri-Cycle Energy, a food waste collection service. The company started picking up MGH’s organic waste six days a week and delivering it to a farm in Maine where it would be mixed with manure and converted into electricity, heat and fertilizer. In the first 11 months of the program, MGH disposed of 358 tons of waste this way.
That solution proved beneficial for both MGH and the farm, but organic food waste disposal isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Different businesses have different needs.
Miller Recycling can help your organization comply with the MassDEP ban in a way that benefits both the environment and your bottom line. We have experience facilitating all types of organic food waste disposal methods, including composting and clean energy conversion. Even if your organization’s organic waste output is below the 1-ton threshold, we can help you find a disposal method that’s environmentally friendly. If your food waste output ever does exceed 1 ton per week, you’ll already be in compliance with the ban.
What organic food waste disposal method will work best for your company’s needs? Contact Miller Recycling today to find out.