It will take a culture change for consumers to join the food-waste recycling movement; but the good news is, it’s underway at the production and manufacturing level.
From dining tables to landfills and incinerators
We are no longer facing the question of whether there is climate change; ask any
farmer — it’s changed. We are now facing a climate crisis; and the real question
is, what are the immediate and practical solutions available to slow the pace of
change? With many different strategies being debated, one consensus pathway that
has widespread support is attacking methane
emissions
— the most corrosive greenhouse gas (GHG). Remarkably, recycling food waste is
one of the most practical solutions available today to mitigate methane
emissions.
The people of the United States send nearly 50 million tons of food waste to
our landfills and incinerators each year. That’s equivalent to throwing out 100
billion pints of ice cream and makes food waste the single largest source of
methane emissions in the US.
The
EPA
reported that in 2018, food waste was the most prominent waste stream in US landfills and
incinerators — comprising about 24 percent of the 292.4 million tons of waste
generated that year. That’s a lot of waste that could be recycled into valuable
renewable energy or compost.
Waste is only waste if you waste it. And most who live in the US never see where
their waste goes — we put it in the trash and send it to the curb without a
second thought. Yet, according to the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization,
food loss and waste account for 8-10 percent of global GHGs; if food waste were
a country, it would be the third-largest carbon emitter after the US and
China.
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To catalyze change, we need to enhance the public’s understanding of the
detrimental effects of food waste on the global climate crisis. We can’t see the
emissions coming from the decaying food waste in our landfills or the pollution
being caused by incineration. There are solutions to our food waste problem; but
we have to act.
Understanding how people think about food waste
Have you ever wondered why in the US, we buy and prepare so much food and then
simply throw it out? Do we do it because our food is stamped with “sell by” or
“use
by”?
Do we not eat leftovers because we are ‘one and done’? Or do we do it because we
can?
According to
ReFED,
as much as 35 percent of food available in the US goes uneaten; of that, 7
percent — or 4 million tons annually — is due to consumer confusion over “best
before” labels.
It’s not just the average person throwing out food; food and beverage
manufacturers around the country generate unavoidable waste in the process of
producing food and beverages. Most of these commercial facilities are committed
to waste reduction throughout their production process; but some process waste,
off-spec batches or contaminated waste is inevitable.
According to the EPA, food waste from the industrial sector was around 103 million tons — which
represented organic waste from recalls, contaminated batches and overproduction,
to name a few reasons. To put that last number into perspective, 103 million
tons of food waste is the equivalent of the weight of 450,000 Statues of
Liberty.
The state of food-waste bans in the US
Organics recycling is quickly becoming a topic of discussion in the gilded halls
of state houses and city halls across the country with some states and cities
already enacting organics-recycling legislation.
California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York,
New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington
have enacted organic-waste bans. The focus of these states' bans has been on
commercial organic-waste producers. Additionally, Austin County in
Texas, Boulder County in Colorado, Honolulu in Hawaii, and
Western Lake Superior and Hennepin Counties in Minnesota have all
enacted commercial organic-waste bans. Washington, DC has followed suit with
an organic-waste ban law taking effect on January 1, 2024.
Food and beverage manufacturers, retailers and food users that are not first
movers in the organics recycling and decarbonization arenas are now faced with
legislative changes that will impact how they must address unavoidable waste.
It’s not a matter of if — it’s a matter of when.
The majority of the laws passed in the other states are geared toward food
manufacturers and institutions that produce at least 1,000 tons of organic waste
a week. States that have organic-waste bans for manufacturers are counting on
those industries to look for solutions to repurpose that organic waste instead
of sending it to the local landfill or incinerator. Companies are considering
this question from more than an economic standpoint and are quickly realizing
that this diversion of waste can become a value proposition to communicate to
customers that they care about the environment.
In the International Food Information Council’s 2022 Food & Health Survey, 39 percent of all
respondents said concerns about sustainability influence their food and beverage
purchases — an increase from the 27 percent seen in 2019. 73
percent
of Gen Z respondents believe that they are more concerned about the
environmental sustainability of their food choices than older generations,
followed by 71 percent of millennials.
As food producers consider solutions to their organic-waste problem, many start
by donating any edible
food
to food pantries or to farms for animal feed. If it’s inedible, companies such
as Vanguard Renewables work to help food
and beverage manufacturers find a circular solution to the manufacturing-waste
challenge by taking their inedible organic waste and combining it with manure
from US dairy farms to create renewable energy via anaerobic
digestion.
What could be better than telling your consumer that you are a “Farm Powered”
business?
Commercial food recycling first movers
Berkshire Brewing Company in South
Deerfield, MA is going all in on recycling its organic waste. The brewery
sends its spent grains and other organic waste to a local family dairy farm,
where it’s combined with cow manure to make renewable energy. Head Brewer Noah
Bogoff said: “Our family brewery is committed to sustainability, and recycling
our waste to create renewable energy is one way that we reach that goal. It’s
also a great way for us to help our local dairy farmers in the process.”
Companies including Berkshire Brewing, Unilever, Cabot Creamery and
Dairy Farmers of America have been working with Vanguard Renewables to
recycle their organic waste. Doing so, not because they have to — there are
other options — but because they understand that their inedible waste can be
harnessed to create renewable energy that powers businesses, communities, homes
and even
colleges.
Their choice to partner with Vanguard to recycle their organic waste is not only
working to lessen their GHGs but helping to sustain US dairy
farms.
Closing thoughts
Most organic-waste bans originated at the local level, with cities such as
Boston paving the
way for Massachusetts. With landfills reaching capacity so quickly and
incinerators being notorious polluters, we can hope that other state and
municipal leaders will challenge themselves and their colleagues to find
solutions to removing food waste from their garbage streams and showing state
leaders that this can be done effectively.
Landfills are
closing
across the country; and incinerators are unpopular with communities due to the
pollution they cause. In order to reach President Biden’s aggressive
emission-reduction
goals
by 2030, municipalities, counties and states will be introducing or expanding
legislation to divert large-scale organic waste from landfills and incinerators.
There are many potential solutions to this challenge and lots of great minds
working on this problem. In the case of Vanguard Renewables’ Farm Powered®
program,
food waste is transported to a dairy farm, combined with farm waste and recycled
into renewable energy. The byproducts from the anaerobic-digestion process
include liquid fertilizer — which is nearly odorless, low-carbon and
nutrient-dense — leading to improved crop yields and drastically reducing the
farmer's expense for chemical fertilizers. The solids that come from the process
are converted into bedding for the herd, which leads to healthier and happier
cows since it is rich with their own biometric makeup.
It will take a culture change for consumers to join the food-waste recycling
movement; but the good news is, it’s underway. The more we bring the issue to
the forefront, the further along we will be.
Because we can’t wait any longer — landfills are nearly full and incinerators
are polluting our neighborhoods. We can and will do better.
Published Jun 7, 2023 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST
John Hanselman is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Vanguard Renewables — the U.S. leader in farm-based organics to renewable energy. John launched Vanguard Renewables in 2014 to connect farm-based anaerobic digestion to agricultural resilience and produce renewable energy. His work includes finding a decarbonization pathway for the food and beverage industry by enabling the repurposing of unavoidable manufacturing and supply chain waste into renewable natural gas. John’s strength is bringing together partners in the decarbonization journey and Vanguard has strategic partnerships with Dairy Farmers of America and Dominion Energy, among others. (Read more ...)
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