Wasted Food: Here, There, Everywhere

Food Waste:Organic Residue generated by the processing, handling, storage, sale, preparation, cooking, and serving of foods.

Took more than I can Eat. Fridge- Double Edged SwordWe are not alone as we swim in this wasted food pool

Consider these estimates of the resources dedicated to food that never gets eaten in the United States:

25% of all freshwater used in U.S.4% of total U.S. oil consumption$750 million per year in disposal fees33 million tons of landfill waste

Why are we here: The Problems

Abundant Society/Growing Population

Uneducated consumer

Easiest disposal solution

Fix it later because right now we are doing ok

Price Driven

What a waste

Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost or uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption. As of 2013, half of all food is wasted worldwide, according to the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME).40 percent of all food in America goes uneaten. What’s worse: 25 percent of America’s freshwater supplies — and huge amounts of land, energy, and pesticides — are used to produce food destined for the trash heap.Americans are shocked to hear the average household of four spends about $1,500 every year on food we throw away. They are stunned to learn that we waste more than 20 pounds of food per person every month.

Solutions

Food Recovery HierarchySource Reduction: Better Education/training for employees who come in contact with the food sourceFeed Hungry People: Liability concerns, Insufficient storage and refrigeration at food banks, Regulatory Constraints, Insufficient on-site storage and refrigeration, Transportation limitationsAnimal Feed: Practices for manufacturers to direct organic “by-products” to animal feed vary widely depending on the type of facility being operated, the diversity of products being produced and access to reputable outlets who can handle the organic materials. Wastes such as trimmings from a vegetable or fruit processing facility can be collected in bulk and sold or donated to pig farmers for feeding directly to their animals. In other cases, waste materials may require further processing, such as heat treatment, or blending with other ingredients to produce a safe and suitable animal feed. A couple of keys to success in recycling food for animal feed: Know your materials, Protect yourself and your business partners by treating this practice like any other business transaction. Industrial Uses: Rendering, Ethanol production, Other industrial uses include recovering energy from waste materials. The most widely used technology in the US is anaerobic digestion (A/D) which converts organic materials in controlled conditions to create methane gas that can then be used to power boilers, turbines for electricity or converted to compressed natural gas to fuel trucks. Composting: The last line of defense from food waste going to landfill is to redirect organic materials for composting or other soil treatments, like direct land application. Composting is generally limited to places where industrial facilities can handle food waste and is a good solution for inconsistent or mixed streams that are not suitable for the higher value streams noted previously. Landfill/Incineration: May have a place, but not in food waste

Anaerobic DigestionWhat is Anaerobic Digestion?

Anaerobic digestion is a series of biological processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. One of the end products is biogas, which is combusted to generate electricity and heat, or can be processed into renewable natural gas and transportation fuels. A range of anaerobic digestion technologies are converting livestock manure, municipal wastewater solids, food waste, high strength industrial wastewater and residuals, fats, oils and grease (FOG), and various other organic waste streams into biogas, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Separated digested solids can be composted, utilized for dairy bedding, directly applied to cropland or converted into other products. Nutrients in the liquid stream are used in agriculture as fertilizer.

Why do communities choose to use anaerobic digestion technology?Assuming those communities have already implemented other options that represent the most efficiency for these materials (e.g. food waste reduction, food donation, backyard composting) anaerobic digestion is the logical next step because it adds value to the organic recycling process providing:Energy: Anaerobic digestion provides biogas, a clean, local renewable energy source. Nutrients: Anaerobic digestion provides nutrient-rich soil amendment sand natural fertilizers that can be returned to local landscapes.Maximum odor control: Anaerobic digestion occurs in gas tight environments.

Anaerobic Digestion technology can provide a complete solution to organic waste management. As discussed in the earlier section various types of organic material, waste or substrate can be used as a feed in the anaerobic digestion technology. The end product of the anaerobic digestion is Biogas and digestate (left over of the feed after the anaerobic fermentation and degradation). Biogas generated through the process can be converted to electricity or heating through Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation unit. Biogas can also be further refined to pipeline-quality gas (comparable to natural gas, which is 97% methane) and used as fuel to run public transportation or waste collection vehicles. Thus producing biogas from local organic waste can provide a stable, local supply of renewable energy. In addition, the nutrients and solid materials from the digestate can be concentrated and converted to a valuable resource such as compost for soil amendment purposes or use as a dry organic fertilizer. Thus, with anaerobic digestion for organic waste, it will be possible to offset a large amount of fossil fuel consumption while keeping organic waste out of the landfill and avoiding associated greenhouse emissions. The diagram shows conversion of various organic wastes via anaerobic digestion technology and different beneficial uses of the process end products.

Blue SphereJohnston, RI AD

Anaerobic digesters process food scrap in such a way that it produces methane, which is burned on-site to create electricity, and a soil amendment that can be sold to farmers for certain applications. This disposal method for food scrap is generally considered more responsible than sending it to the landfill, where it occupies valuable space and accelerates climate change via methane emissions.Opponents of anaerobic digesters say food scrap would be better used to rehabilitate soil.Generators will turn the methane into electricity, and excess heat from the generators will be used to maintain the proper temperature of the digesters. The black tanks in the background are the wastewater treatment tanks.Generators will turn the methane into electricity, and excess heat from the generators will be used to maintain the proper temperature of the digesters. The black tanks in the background are the wastewater treatment tanks.

Johnston projectBlue Sphere broke ground on its Johnston facility in May of last year. When completed, it will accept 250 tons of food scrap daily and generate 3.2 megawatts of electricity. Hansel Tineo, a project manager for Austep, the Italian-based builder and future operator of the facility, said it will begin accepting food scrap come springtime and be fully operational by this summer.The facility will include at least 11 structures. Waste haulers will deliver food scrap to a reception building, where automated equipment sorts out contaminants such as plastic, and pulps the food scrap. Once pulped, the food scrap moves through a holding tank and into one of two 2.5-million gallon digestion tanks, where it breaks down anaerobically — without oxygen.The food scrap will then enter a second, smaller digestion tank, where it further decomposes. Anaerobic digestion takes between three and four months, according to Chris Duhamel, vice president at DiPrete Engineering, the local engineering firm that helped usher the project through its complicated permitting process.The methane created during anaerobic digestion will be piped to on-site generators that burn the gas to create electricity, which gets distributed to the power grid. Upon leaving the smaller digestion tank, the solid and liquid byproducts of the digestion process are separated. The liquids get treated in a four-tank wastewater treatment system until they are about as clean or cleaner than residential wastewater. The liquid will then be introduced into the Narragansett Bay Authority’s collection system, which will further treat the wastewater at a downstream treatment plant, according to Duhamel.The solid byproducts of the digestion process are dried, then sold as a fertilizer.The facility will receive revenue from three sources: a tip fee charged to waste haulers delivering food scrap; the sale of energy to National Grid; and the sale of fertilizer. National Grid has agreed to buy electricity for a price not to exceed 10 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first year, followed by annual 2 percent price increases, according to David Graves, a spokesman for National Grid. The contract lasts for 15 years, with the possibility of an extension that must be approved by the state Public Utilities Commission.

Blue Sphere broke ground on its Johnston facility in May of last year. When completed, it will accept 250 tons of food scrap daily and generate 3.2 megawatts of electricity. Hansel Tineo, a project manager for Austep, the Italian-based builder and future operator of the facility, said it will begin accepting food scrap come springtime and be fully operational by this summer.The facility will include at least 11 structures. Waste haulers will deliver food scrap to a reception building, where automated equipment sorts out contaminants such as plastic, and pulps the food scrap. Once pulped, the food scrap moves through a holding tank and into one of two 2.5-million gallon digestion tanks, where it breaks down anaerobically — without oxygen.The food scrap will then enter a second, smaller digestion tank, where it further decomposes. Anaerobic digestion takes between three and four months, according to Chris Duhamel, vice president at Diprete Engineering, the local engineering firm that helped usher the project through its complicated permitting process.The methane created during anaerobic digestion will be piped to on-site generators that burn the gas to create electricity, which gets distributed to the power grid. Upon leaving the smaller digestion tank, the solid and liquid byproducts of the digestion process are separated. The liquids get treated in a four-tank wastewater treatment system until they are about as clean or cleaner than residential wastewater. The liquid will then be introduced into the Narragansett Bay Authority’s collection system, which will further treat the wastewater at a downstream treatment plant, according to Duhamel.The solid byproducts of the digestion process are dried, then sold as a fertilizer.The facility will receive revenue from three sources: a tip fee charged to waste haulers delivering food scrap; the sale of energy to National Grid; and the sale of fertilizer. National Grid has agreed to buy electricity for a price not to exceed 10 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first year, followed by annual 2 percent price increases, according to David Graves, a spokesman for National Grid. The contract lasts for 15 years, with the possibility of an extension that must be approved by the state Public Utilities Commission.

Blue SphereJohnston, RI AD (Cont.)