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Local Government
Local jurisdictions can take any number of steps to facilitate food
recovery:
- Devote staff time to linking commercial food waste generators with
haulers and end users, and to encouraging organics diversion in general.
- Provide grants or contracts to facilitate food recovery efforts.
Recipients could include food waste generators, to assist them in
purchasing on-site composting systems; haulers, to collect food scraps;
and end users, such as food banks, to help them purchase needed equipment.
- Provide technical assistance to food waste generators to help them
design, implement, and troubleshoot food recovery programs.
- Add food discards to residential yard trimmings collection programs,
or work with haulers to do this.
- Fund or share costs of and/or work with haulers/processors to develop
a pilot project, start up a facility, or initiate another food recovery
project. (The City of San Jose has given BFI and Zanker Road about
$100,000 each to perform a one-year pilot project.)
- Work with local and State enforcement agencies to help composters
through the permitting process. (For example, the City of San Jose worked
with the local enforcement agency [LEA] so that it was prepared for
haulers’ permit requests to collect food.)
- Work with private haulers to amend franchise agreements to include the
collection of source-separated food discards. (Palm Springs amended its
franchise agreement with its hauler.)
- Develop a local composting facility or other end user if none exists.
- Adopt and enforce ordinances to mandate source-separation of food
discards. (Ventura County has a mandatory recycling ordinance requiring
businesses to recycle specified materials. Once its composting facility is
operational, the county can use the ordinance to encourage food recovery.)
Collection services are generally funded by rates haulers charge their
customers.
Santa Cruz County funds its grant programs through a solid waste service
assessment collected with property taxes. San Francisco funds its grant
programs from ratepayer funds. Its contract for outreach and technical
assistance is also funded this way.
Berkeley funds its commercial sector food scrap collection program
through its refuse fund, which comes from refuse fees. Alameda County has
helped the city purchase some equipment.
Tips for Replication
Commercial Programs
- Identify what businesses are generating food discards, and target
these businesses based on type and size.
- Identify businesses that use food discards (such as composters,
vermicomposters, animal feeders, animal feed manufacturers, tallow
companies). Finding a composting facility that is permitted to take all
types of food will result in greater flexibility and higher diversion. If
composting facilities can only take vegetative materials, these materials
are still worth targeting.
- Try to make matches and distribute information on users to generators
so they can make their own matches.
- Place the highest use value on edible food redistribution. When
developing a program, work with and support local food donation
organizations to incorporate edible food recovery.
- Work with haulers to develop a collection strategy and financial
incentives for participating businesses.
- Put time into working with businesses. Provide monitoring and
follow-up. Remind businesses that they reap many benefits from
participating, including financial and public relations.
- Conduct outreach and find different ways to promote the program. A
brochure can help inform businesses about the program. Health departments
and chambers of commerce can help deliver messages to businesses.
- Be flexible. As with any new program, be willing to fine-tune the
program to meet the needs of cities and customers. Find out if the level
of service is right (such as pickup frequency). If not, make adjustments.
- Use front-end loader trucks to collect food discards. Front-end loader
trucks are better equipped to handle heavy containers than rear loader
trucks.
- Consider providing biodegradable and compostable bags for customers to
line their containers as needed. Bags will keep containers cleaner and
prevent food scraps such as dough from sticking to containers, but they
will also add to costs.
- Devote a staff person or employ a consultant to work with generators
to set up composting systems at generators’ sites.
- Offer seed money to cover part of the cost of equipment for on-site
diversion.
- Promote business customer recognition programs via local business
associations.
Residential Programs (based on San Francisco’s experience)
- Provide participation incentives to residents through variable trash
rates. Even if these rates were already in place, conduct outreach and
remind residents that they can reduce their trash volume and save money
through food recovery.
- Add food discards to your existing yard debris collection program if
you have such a regular program. Adding food discards is not much of an
additional cost, and it improves compost product quality.
- Spread the message that separating food discards is not difficult.
Residents can use paper bags and/or newspapers to line their bins.
- Target all types of food-not just vegetative food-in order to increase
participation, diversion, and compost product quality.
- Commingle the dry recyclables to simplify residents’ set-out and
sorting requirements. Food scraps mixed with yard debris is one sort;
commingled dry recyclables is a second.
- If you choose commingled recyclables set-out and collection, do not
overcompact recyclables once collected. This will cause glass breakage.
- Co-collect trash and recyclables to increase collection efficiency.
Picture shows the San Francisco Fantastic Three program carts for recyclables,
food and other organics, and trash.
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