REDUCING FOOD WASTE IS KEY IN BATTLE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE CONTINUED...
SPECIAL REPORT
planet-damaging fossil fuel. And the solid waste that results after this process is sent to a composting facility. It seems like a big-scale solution. But Chen said the facility receives only a fraction of the waste it could process. The county’s network of private waste haulers is territorial and juggles the sometimes-competing demands of separate jurisdictions, he said. An incorporated city like Pasadena, for example, has its own diversion quotas for food waste that might dictate where haulers dump their load. Some haulers operate their own composting facilities, but those are often in remote areas, resulting in transportation costs and emissions, Chen noted. Waste Management, for example, one of the largest recyclers in North America, said it operates 11 organics processing sites in California, including seven composting facilities that processed about 840,000 tons of organic waste last year (including yard waste). That’s among 49 facilities in the U.S. and Canada, including plants that convert fat, oil and grease into biofuel, which fuels the company’s trucks. (WM sees alternative fuel as a big opportunity and plans to build 20 new renewable natural gas facilities across the country by 2026.) But, of course, fees are also a factor. There are fees for bringing waste to facilities like LA Sanitation’s biogas plant, and Chen said those rates have doubled in recent years. In the end, those fees are paid by customers—and the last thing restaurants want is to see waste-removal fees increase. In other cities where the infrastructure does not exist, some restaurants are working on a smaller scale with local composters. For example, 14 Chick-fil-A operators in Phoenix send food scraps to
Recycled City, which makes compost for area farms. In Fort Worth, Texas, organic waste is collected by Cowboy Compost, which offers Chick-fil-A team members and guests a free bag of compost to use in their home gardens, Beaubien said. In places where composting isn’t available at all, some restaurants are experimenting with their own in-house aerobic food digestion machines. ORCA makes digesters that break down organic scraps into a liquid, or effluent, safe to go down the drain into wastewater treatment plants. It doesn’t create compost, but it diverts food from landfills and reduces the expense and carbon emissions from trash pickup. Tom Balsamides, a Chick-fil-A operator in Snellville, Georgia, estimated he diverted more than 3.1 tons of food waste from a local landfill in less than a year after installing an ORCA digester. It’s probably not a solution that can be used systemwide, said Beaubien, but it’s an example of how local operators are trying to do their part. And, until there is more of an infrastructure that supports food waste diversion and incentives—or consequences—it does come down to everyone doing their part. Cimarusti of Providence restaurant is a believer in that collective effort. “Every one of us can do more,” said Cimarusti. “It is important that everyone participates in some way, no matter what. Because if everyone’s moving the needle, even to a tiny degree, then it helps.”
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JANUARY 2025
PHOTO: ENVATO
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