Strategies for Organic Food Waste Management at The Ohio State University

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2 Sustainability at The Ohio State University The Ohio State University continually focuses on groundbreaking programs to foster sustainability throughout its campus and adjacent facilities. Since 2004, the university has reduced its trash by 8.5% and increased its recycling by 55% overall. In 2006, the university set a goal to eliminate the amount of waste disposed in landfills by 40%. (See, p.4, for update of OSU goal summary) Exploring new practices for handling food waste was a critical step towards achieving this goal. In April of 2011, the university s Energy Services and Sustainability Office created a pilot program at The Blackwell Inn and Conference Center located at the university s Fisher College of Business. Aiming for a solution that could be replicated on a larger scale at other campus facilities, the university selected the hotel as the pilot site due to its high volume of food waste 4.5 tons per week. The program consisted of evaluating three methods of food waste disposal. #1 Traditional Method The Blackwell Inn s waste disposal and recycling program consisted of two dumpsters (3yard) for trash and three dumpsters (6yard) for recycling, with 11 scheduled pickups per week. The monthly cost, including labor for hauling, equipment, trash liners and disposal fees, was 1, Traditional Method Landfill Per Hour Time or Tonnage Cost per Pickup Pickups per Week Weekly Costs Monthly Costs Hauling Fee (Labor) hour Equipment hour Tipping Fee tons 1, Trash Liners Total Trash 1, Conclusion: While this proved to be the least costly alternative, landfill disposal of organic waste did not support the university s goals InSinkErator, a division of Emerson Electric Co. All Rights Reserved _G2E_Whitepaper_v9.indd 1 July,

3 #2 Composting Pilot After meeting with the Inn s staff to discuss the facility s waste management needs, the Energy Services and Sustainability Office set up a pilot to divert organic materials from The Blackwell to a compost facility. Initiating the composting pilot required the purchase of 36 tubs (10gallon) with lids, eight sealable twowheel toters (65gallon), and six Slim Jim containers (33gallon), for a total cost of approximately 1, The process entailed: Scraping pre or postconsumer materials into the tubs or Slim Jims Sealing tubs and Slim Jims for carting to the loading dock Dumping contents of tubs and Slim Jims into the eight toters, which were located on the loading dock Collection of toters (typically three times per week) and delivery of organic waste to a compost facility The monthly cost, including labor/hauling to the compost facility and equipment, was 3, Organics/Composting Management Per Hour Time or Tonnage Cost per Pickup Pickups Weekly Costs Monthly Costs Hauling Fee hours per week (Labor) Equipment hour per week Tipping Fee tons Hauling to Composting Facility Hauling to Composting Facility Truck Fee hours per trip (2 staff) per month per month Trash Liners 0 Total Organics 2, Trash Management (0.5 ton to landfill) Total Trash 3, Conclusion: The university was satisfied with the composting pilot from a landfill diversion standpoint. But in addition to the higher cost, the composting process was judged to be laborintensive. * Slim Jim is a registered trademark of Rubbermaid Commercial Products InSinkErator, a division of Emerson Electric Co. All Rights Reserved. July, _G2E_Whitepaper_v9.indd 2

4 #3 InSinkErator Grind2Energy Pilot In September of 2011, the university entered into a pilot program with InSinkErator, utilizing the manufacturer s new Grind2Energy Organics Recycling System, designed to facilitate processing of organic waste by turning it into a slurry, which is hauled to a local anaerobic digestion site. The Grind2Energy unit is capable of grinding up to 700 pounds of food waste per hour, using only one gallon of water per minute. The unit s output is a contaminantfree food waste slurry, which is pumped into anaerobic digesters with no additional processing required. The high quality of slurry is such that it increases digester methane production. Grind2Energy transfers the food waste slurry to a holding tank. In the case of The Blackwell Inn, a 1,600gallon tank occupied an 8 x 20 space on the facility s loading dock. Once a week, a vacuum truck removed the slurry from the tank and delivered it to an anaerobic digestion facility operated by Quasar Energy Group. The monthly cost, including removal and transport of slurry, was 1, Grind2Energy Organics Management Per Hour Time or Tonnage Cost per Pickup Pickups Weekly Costs Monthly Costs Truck Fee hour per week Tipping Fee tons Trash Liners 0 Total Organics 1, Trash Management (0.5 ton to landfill) Total Materials Management 1, Conclusion: The InSinkErator pilot program helped achieve the university s goal of reducing waste sent to the landfill, while simultaneously turning the food waste into renewable resources both energy and fertilizer. Also, the cost/benefit analysis comparing the traditional method (incorporating trash management and recycling) and composting pilot versus the Grind2Energy program shows that the InSinkErator solution can also be highly costeffective for the university the most economical means of reducing landfill waste InSinkErator, a division of Emerson Electric Co. All Rights Reserved. July, _G2E_Whitepaper_v9.indd 3

5 Summary Following is a comparison of the peryear and permonth costs and the sustainability factors associated with Traditional Method, Composting and Grind2Energy solutions conducted at The Blackwell Inn, by The Ohio State University s Energy Services and Sustainability Office. Landfill Composting InSinkErator Grind2Energy COST 1,936 Per Month 23,232 Per Year COST 3,155 Per Month 37,860 Per Year COST 1,624 Per Month 19,488 Per Year Does not support university s food waste diversion goals Supports university s food waste diversion goals Produces soil amendment that returns nutrients to the earth Supports university s food waste diversion goals Anaerobic digestion captures biogas Anaerobic digestion produces biosolids By diverting 4.5 tons of food waste per week from the landfill and converting it into renewable energy, the Grind2Energy solution removes 106,377 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, which equates to taking 10.1 cars off the road. By diverting 4.5 tons of food waste per week from the trash pickups going to the landfill, Grind2Energy removed a total of 20,966 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, which equates to taking 2.0 cars off the road. (3 trash pickups per week, traveling 20 miles to landfill, with a 50% load of food waste.) By converting this 4.5 tons of food waste per week into renewable energy, Grind2Energy removed a total of 85,411 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, which equates to taking 8.1 cars off the road. (Offset, by generating electricity from AD biogas vs. coal or gasoline.) Moving Forward The food waste disposal process at The Blackwell Inn continues to operate efficiently using the Grind2Energy Organics Recycling System. The university s Energy Services and Sustainability Office is looking into refining the Inn s operation so that less food waste is produced, and is also assessing other foodservice operations on the university campus for installation of Grind2Energy. OSU Goal Summary Diversion Rate 16.1% 20.1% 20.0% 23.5% 22.2% 24.3% 30.9% 31.3% 2013 InSinkErator, a division of Emerson Electric Co. All Rights Reserved. July, _G2E_Whitepaper_v9.indd 4

6 About InSinkErator Headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, InSinkErator, a business unit of Emerson (NYSE: EMR), is the world s largest manufacturer of food waste disposers and instant hot water dispensers for home and commercial use. For more information, visit About Emerson Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets around the world. The company is composed of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial & Residential Solutions. For more information, visit For more information about the InSinkErator Grind2Energy Organics Recycling System [email protected] call: InSinkErator, a division of Emerson Electric Co. All Rights Reserved. G2E00713D0602 July, _G2E_Whitepaper_v9.indd 5