| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 97 08:46 WET From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Food recycle
March 4, 1997
One document that you should obtain is Usable Organic Waste Products in Vermont by the Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Division of Solid Waste Management, Recycling Section, 103 South Main St., Waterbury, VT 05676.
You should also check out the Cornell (University) Waste Management Institute whose Food Waste Composting project includes preconsumer wastes. Contact them by email at jb29@cornell.edu. or by telephone at 607-255-8444.
Most supermarket programs involve composting, not recycling. Larry s Markets in Maine, a mid-size chain, has worked extensively on this as has the a trade group called the Grocery Industry Committee on Solid Waste (See Biocycle Magazine 5/92 issue). Hannaford Brothers of Maine is another chain working on this.
But you are after recycling programs or reuse programs. These have had a slow start in the US, but a large number have been started within the last year, typically pairing a waste hauler, a Food Bank, and one or more supermarkets for the benefit of reuse of reuseable food. In another variation, it is not the supermarket, but the food wholesaler who contributes the food turning bad . An example is the Food Bank of East Oakland, California teaming with Waste Management and the Wholesale Produce Market of Oakland. The operation is written up in the 12/96 issue of Biocycle .
Preconsumer waste food residuals are another strand, but again, for composting.
- Research Library for RCRA