Food Waste Recovery
The goal of the Food Waste Recovery Working Group is to develop efficient food waste recovery systems and intrastructure for the recycling and reuse of compostable materials from businesses, residents, aand agencies.
Members of this working group have agreed that the climate is good to begin discussions about city-wide and business composting systems especially with rollout of new recycling program in the city of Cleveland.
There are generally two types of compostable materials generated by business, residences, and agencies; waste oil/grease and green waste including kitchen scraps and yard waste.
Current business that participate in food waste recovery systems:
- Great Lakes Brewing Company (waste grease, brew waste, kitchen scraps)
- Lucky's Cafe (kitchen waste)
- Gypsy Beans and Baking Co. (kitchen waste)
- Bon Appetit at Case Western Reserve University (waste grease)
Composting Facilities in Greater Cleveland:
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (animal manure)
- Rosby's Resource Recycling (yard waste, leaves)
Members agreed that infrastructure needs to be developed to accommodate any larger scale food waste recovery systems. (Transfer stations, composting facility, systems at institutions, transportation, compost bins to residences, etc.) There was also discussion about piloting a system for some restaurants and institutions that incorporate sustainability principles into their business and are within close proximity to each other (Ex: Ohio City- Great Lakes Brewing, Flying Fig, Bier Markt, Lutheran Hospital, etc.)
Goal: To develop efficient food waste recovery systems and infrastructure for the recycling and reuse of food waste from businesses, residents, and agencies.
Objectives:
- Identify current food waste recovery systems in use.
- Identify current composting facilities and potential capacity to accommodate food waste.
- Research models of food waste recovery in other municipalities.
- Develop a pilot system for use in Cleveland at two institutions or businesses.
- Investigate current contracts with the West Side Market for waste management.
- Investigate revenue potential of selling products from composting facility and cost savings to city and county departments for reduction in waste management costs.