HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ 1/HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ.iso/anarchy/essays/term/compost.txt

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                   COMPOSTING AND THE GROCERY INDUSTRY

The following bulletin was prepared from Grocery Industry Committee
on Solid Waste
October 24, 1991

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Solid waste composting is an important component of an integrated
solution for solid waste management.  Composting can divert
organic, compostable materials, not otherwise recycled, from the
solid waste stream and convert them into a useful product.
Composting is environmentally sound, technically and economically
feasible and meets local waste management needs.

This report, from the Grocery Compost Task Force to the Grocery
Industry Committee on Solid Waste (GICSW), is intended to establish
composting as a viable and sustainable component of an integrated
solution for solid waste management.  To do this the industry
supports the development of composting systems for grocery
manufacturers and retailers, and the development of the supporting
infrastructure.  Composting can handle from 30 to 60 percent of all
municipal solid waste, including food waste, yard waste and paper
and paperboard waste.

The grocery industry is committed to a high level of product
stewardship.  This commitment includes the environmentally sound
management of wastes generated at the retail levl as well as wastes
from grocery products after they have been sold and used by
consumers.  Much of this waste is organic in nature and landfilled.

From a product stewardship perspective the grocery industry
believes that composting is a more environmentally sound management
practice than disposal for managing these wastes.  While single
stream and segregated stream composting may be more readily
available for many manufacturers' and retailers' own waste, MSW
composting is an attractive alternative for waste created by
consumers.

This report focuses on grocery retailer composting programs, but
will also address goals and programs for manufacturers.

Food waste plus wet and waxed corrugated from retailers alone
accounts for 6.6 million tons per year of waste that could be
composted rather than discarded, which is nearly 4 percent of all
municipal solid waste (MSW).  Disposal of those wastes costs the
grocery retailers $482 million per year, eating up the pre-tax
profits from $34 billion of grocery retail sales.

All food waste produced directly by manufacturers and retailers, as
well as home food waste produced by grocer shoppers, comprises
nearly 20 percent of the entire grocery industry's wastes.  On a
store level, over 90 percent of the solid waste is deemed by this
task force to be most representative of a "typical" store, produce
43 percent of their waste as food waste.  Almost all corrugated is
recyclable or compostable.  30 percent of the corrugated produced
by a grocery store is either wet or waxed, precluding its
recyclabiliy.

Composting can achieve important benefits for the grocery industry
including:

1.  Meeting the demands of grocery customers who are demanding more
environmentally sound and responsible ways of managing solid waste;
2.  Proactively controlling waste disposal tonnage and expenses;
3.  Supporting governmental initiatives for landfill diversion and
material recovery;
4.  Encouraging recycling of other materials; and
5.  Making the best use of natural and man-made resources by
converting organic waste into compost instead of landfilling them.

Each grocery industry facility should evaluate how best to handle
its compostable waste.  As detailed in the report, there are
several possible approaches to handle mixed organics from the solid
waste stream.  Regardless of the approach, it is important for the
industry to help establish a composting infrastructure.  Market
development is a key element of this infrastructure and the grocery
industry supports market development initiatives.

Depending upon the compost program, compost processors may require
or prefer source-separated homogeneous food wastes to obtain
maximum control over end-product quality.  Source-separated
materials may have greater value to the end user because of the
densification and readiness for processing, and therefore may lead
to lowest collection and processing costs for the generator.

For grocery retailers, this report focuses on segregated stream
composting.  Because the industry can generate a source-separated
product, free of harmful wastes and relatively free of inert
materials, it can easily be integrated into whichever composting
program is most likely to be available locally.

This report explains the various ways to handle, collect, transport
and process grocery store wastes for composting.  In general, the
GICW recommentds:

  *  Collection of compostables in dedicated barrels;
  *  Pickup and transportation of the compostables either by
loading barrels into a truck or by emptying the barrels into a
dedicated dumpster or compactor for collection by a hauler;
  *  Composting at the best locally available site; and
  *  Careful training of store employees to maximize participation
and minimize contamination.

Several specific recommendations addressing issues such as economic
analysis, health issues, facility flexibility and recommended
implementation steps are included.

This report also discusses Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) composting.
MSW composting, as described here, refers to the composting of
residential and commercial separated mixed organic waste, with the
recyclables and other noncompostable materials removed.  Separation
may occur at curbside or the waste may not be transported by
conventional waste vehicles to a central site for the site
separation of compostable materials from noncompostable materials.
There are 15 MSW composting facilities currently available in the
U. S.  Another 150 are in various stages of planning or development
(a new MSW facility can take 3-4 years to site, build and become
operational).  Where they do exist, they should be considered by
grocers for composting.  The availability of an organic fraction
from the grocery industry will be added impetus for development of
community based facilities.

The mixed organics method of collecting compostables should require
little or no change in supermarket operating methods since material
separation is accomplished on the other end by the receiver or end
user.

All composting facilities need to use the best technology available
to ensure production of compost that is safe and marketable.
Attention must be given to the separation of compostable materials
from recyclables and noncompostable waste.

Many state and local governments, federal government through EPA
and the Solid Waste Composting Council (SWCC) are addressing
composting.  In addition, composting.  The GICSW should work with
these entities toward the common goal of developing composting as
a viable solid waste management tool.

In order to develop end markets, the grocery industry should
demonstrate and confirm the beneficial use of compost and
aggressively promote the marketing of the product, specifically to
known end users.  Product standards and end markets for compost are
in the early stages of development.  Standards for end-product
quality do not exist on a federal level but are beginning to be
promulgated on a state-by-state basis.  Currently market
development is planned or in progress in 11 states.  The GICSW
should become involved in market development, establishing science-
based standards, ensuring product quality, establishing pilot
programs and supporting compost legislation.  Specifically, the
GICSW can play a role in opening new outlets for compost in the
agricultural community.

The industry should move towards setting and measuring attainment
of goals to support the development of composting, such as:

  * The production of recyclable and/or compostable consumer
packaging.
  *  The recovery, through composting, of an annually escalating
proportion of manufacturer and retailer wastes.
  *  The recovery, through composting, of an annually escalating
proportion of consumer wastes
The grocery industry should make a serious effort to publicize the
GICSW's environmental philosophy and actions, and to educate
consumers, the general public, the grocery industry and the solid
waste community.  In all cases, the GICSW recommends extreme
caution against overstating any facts, expectations 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.


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