Opportunities and Barriers…

Zero Waste Strategies for Food Scraps and Other Organics

Rich Flammer, Composting Consultant

3rd Annual Orange County" Zero in on Zero Waste -

Don't let your Bottom Line go

to Waste" Business Conference

June 26, 2008 • Ford Motor Company • Irvine, CA

Challenges….

Permitting

• Local land use rules and zoning - CUP

• CEQA

• AQMD (RULE 1133)

• Water Board

• CIWMB permit

“I’d like to compost on my farm, what do I need to do…”

Public perception and NIMBY (includes local planners)

Lack of coordination between generators, planners, and

resource managers

9 Permitted Compost Facilities in Orange County, 6 Chip & Grind (None permitted nor in the development stage for food residuals)

Not enough processors…

Lack of a strategic investment

Competing land use…

160 acres dedicated to local food production eaten by a single mouse…

Sources: Orange County Farm BureauState of California Department of Conservation • Farmland Mapping & Monitoring Program

Agriculture in Orange County Today

• Contributes more than $300 million to the local economy

• With all economics factored in, total value of $1 billion

• From 2000 to 2002 alone, prime farmland in Orange County reduced by 8,530 acres (approximately 17 percent)

• The Orange County Board of Supervisors did not designate any farmland as being of “Local Importance”

Still Worth Fighting For…

• Improved soil• Logistics• Built-in resources• Improved crop yields• Water conservation• Markets for end-products• Transition to organic growing• Highest and best use of organics • Diversified agricultural revenue streams • Preservation of both farming and organics processing industries

Solutions…

Hierarchy of Options

Collection for centralized facility creating fertilizers, soil amendments (composting) or mulches

Source reduction (methods to prevent wasted food and other discards)

Collection for delivery to farms (feed animals)

Collection for delivery to farms (direct land application)

Onsite composting or other processing technology

Donation to food banks (feed people)

Source Reduction

Red Lobster switched from paper to cloth napkins and diverted more than 23,000 tons of paper from the landfill annually

Wendy’s stopped printing on their paper napkins and diverted 28 tons a year; Changes in packaging of pickles, mustard and mayonnaise diverted an additional 500 tons annually

McDonalds switched from bags to cartons for its hash browns and realized a 74% decrease in paper usage, keeping 1,700 tons of material from becoming waste

Peerless Coffee and Tea

One change of coffee packaging machines and reduced the amount of Mylar waste by95 percent and saves $100,000 annually in reduced packaging supply costs

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

One change going from cardboard boxes to durable totes cut annual packaging costs by $520,000, and prevents 350 tons of soiled cardboard waste each year

• From fiscal year 2000, approximately 10,614 tons of food recovered

• Oregon Food Bank estimates 2,122 tons would have been landfilled

• From 1999 to 2005, nearly $700,000 in grants from Portland Metro

• Estimated additional food recovery as a result of the grant programwas 9,000 tons annually

Food Donation

On-site Composting

A look at one of the high tech food scrap processing units Princeton University has been

using for the past 12 years…

Cost: $12/day (Savings of over $20,000 each year)

Comprehensive Programs: Organics diversion on the Hawaiian Islands

Foodland Super Market, Ltd.

30 stores on four islands

• 450 tons of meat and seafood a year diverted from 19 Oahu stores to be converted into agricultural feed

• 335 tons a year of produce scraps diverted from 14 stores to pig farmers

• Over 45 tons of food a year donated to the Hawaii Food Bank

Buy local produce…

Orange County Farm Bureau Sponsored Certified Farmers' Markets

• Irvine

• Tustin

• Costa Mesa

• Orange

• Laguna Hills

• Huntington Beach

• Laguna Beach

• Irvine

• Laguna Niguel

• Multitude of methods for source reduction/composting

• Multi-faceted approaches ensure success

• Consider on-site options

• Landfill diversion = cost savings

• Environmental sustainability = economic sustainability

• Support local agriculture

• Vote for candidates who support sustainability (if you can find any)

Thanks for listening!

Explore the Opportunities…

Rich FlammerHidden Resourceswww.compostingconsultant.com(619) 758-0726