CONTACT PERSON: Richard Moen, Executive Director
GRANT AMOUNT: $25,000
DATE GRANT APPROVED: 12/21/2000
TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET: $38,235.00
GRANT PERIOD: 01/01/01-06/30/02

GRANT PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES: To reduce business food waste and support food recovery systems in the greater Milwaukee area by serving as the link between food waste generators (targeting grocery stores, restaurants, and food processors), haulers, reuse markets, farmers, and composting facilities, which can compost the food waste.

Objectives

·         To serve as the link between food waste generators, haulers, and markets for food waste in the Milwaukee area.

·         To develop the connections and self-supporting infrastructure for food waste recovery and quality compost production.

·         To encourage participation and provide direct outreach, education, and technical assistance to farmers, waste haulers and food waste generators in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area.

1.  DESCRIBE HOW THE PROJECT ACHIEVED OR DID NOT ACHIEVE EACH OF THE PROJECTED OUTCOMES.

WasteCap Wisconsin developed the linkages between food waste generators, haulers and markets for food waste in the greater Milwaukee area.  These links led to the following results:

o        over 100,000 pounds of food diverted

o        the basis for a cost-effective, successful food-waste collection program

o        plans developed for expansion of a compost site that may include food waste

o        connections between markets and processors of food waste that may provide national distribution of Wisconsin’s compost made from food waste

o        assistance to a new food recovery organization to begin its work

o        local, statewide, and national news media coverage of this work and presentations at national conferences

o        enthusiasm from generators, haulers, and markets to continue and expand this work

WasteCap Wisconsin developed the connections which will ultimately lead to a self-supporting infrastructure for food waste recovery and quality compost production.

o        We learned that the final market for the high-quality compost from food waste needs to be developed further in order to maintain a self-supporting infrastructure.  For example, other states’ transportation departments require compost use in road projects.  WasteCap Wisconsin has made the proper connections and offered the information needed to develop these markets in Wisconsin and transform the handling and marketing of food waste and municipal yard waste in Wisconsin (see “Strategies to ensure the project’s continuation,” below).

o        We now have strong connections with markets and possible markets for food waste, generators of food waste and their trade associations (for example, Wisconsin Grocers Association was very helpful with our work), and haulers who were skeptical about hauling food waste but now are interested.  In addition, WasteCap Wisconsin is recognized by state and local officials as a resource for information on recovery of food waste.

·         WasteCap Wisconsin encouraged participation and provided extensive direct outreach, education, and technical assistance to farmers, waste haulers and food waste generators in the Milwaukee area.

Business Food Waste Generators

To develop successful connections between food waste generators, haulers and markets, WasteCap Wisconsin staff first made sure that we had markets and haulers in place (described later in this report).  Then, using contacts we had made through pilot efforts completed in 2000 and our mailing lists we received from our partners, we created and disseminated a letter to food waste generators (mostly grocery stores) in the Milwaukee metropolitan area in the spring of 2001.  Kohl’s Food Stores was interested in the organics collection program and had eight stores available to participate.

WasteCap Wisconsin worked with each of the store managers and, with excellent cooperation of all eight of the stores, conducted a one-week waste assessment at each.  Waste assessments provided valuable information about quantities and proportions of produce and waxed cardboard that grocery stores generate in relation to overall trash volume, which allowed us to calculate the cost-effectiveness of collection and to identify operational challenges.  Although store representatives were enthusiastic, we decided not to set up collection from the Kohl’s stores, based on these assessments and cost information gathered from two haulers.  Collection would not have been cost-effective due to several factors: older stores offered very limited space for collection; distances between the eight stores indicated that the collection route would not be cost-effective; and quantities of food waste removed from the stores would not reduce trash disposal quantities enough to result in cost savings.  This information will be essential in determining the economic viability of future food-waste recovery programs.  Projected food-waste quantities will be used to calculate collection frequencies and the efficiency of collection at each store; for example, the decision to place a dumpster at a given store can be made without incurring the expense of trial-and-error.

The waste assessments provided us with extremely valuable information.  We previously discovered that very little quality information was available, locally or nationally, about quantities of food waste found in a typical grocery store’s waste stream.  These waste assessments provided percentages of food waste that a grocery store can expect to see in it's trash.  When developing collection routes in the future, this information is essential.  Knowing expected quantities allows one to develop a collection route that will fill, but not overflow the collection vehicle, resulting in the most economical program possible.  Also, these numbers can be used to calculate the economics of collection from a particular store.  So, for example, if the store will not generate enough food waste to make collection economically-viable, we will know that before a dumpster is placed and any investment is made.

WasteCap Wisconsin staff then developed a potential 11-mile collection route which included seven large grocery stores representing all of the major grocery chains (including Kohl’s).  Six of the seven stores whom we invited to participate in a three-month collection pilot agreed. 

They were:
Kohl’s Food Stores
Jewel Osco
Pick n' Save
BKT Sentry Foods, Fox Run
BKT Sentry Foods, Meadowbrook
& Rainbow Foods

WasteCap Wisconsin staff conducted site visits to assess current trash volumes and costs, current containers, size of food waste containers needed, and available space.  Preliminary calculations showed that the stores could pay for the food waste collection with the cost savings from reduced trash collection.  A letter was sent to each store outlining potential cost savings from reduced compactor collection versus the costs for the food waste collection.  We held in-person meetings with grocery store managers and produce managers to discuss the food waste collection program.  Each stores signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining both the grocery stores’ and WasteCap’s financial and program management responsibilities.  The three-month collection pilot ran from February 15, 2002, through May 10, 2002.

Before the start of collection, WasteCap Wisconsin staff trained management and staff on waste separation procedures and provided signage explaining the acceptable materials and procedure.  Store staff placed past-prime produce and bakery items as well as waxed-cardboard produce boxes into designated containers that were emptied twice each week.  WasteCap Wisconsin conducted follow-up site visits with the stores approximately every two weeks to gather feedback, answer questions and make any necessary adjustments or improvements.  The stores provided regular and helpful feedback, and improvements were made based on this information. 

During the three month pilot, 118,360 pounds of compostable material was recovered, and five out of six stores participating experienced cost savings due to avoided disposal costs.

- Two stores reported saving $700 that would have otherwise been paid for waste collection, and that food-waste collection could have been increased from twice to three times per week.

- A third store realized cost savings when it was able to cancel its mid-week trash collection, for a savings of $175 to $200 between March and May.

- A fourth store reduced mixed-trash collections by one pickup per week; cost savings were not reported.

- A fifth store reduced its trash collection frequency midway through the pilot, when its waste-collection contract was renegotiated for cost savings resulting from reduced mixed trash.

- The sixth store reported that cost savings were negligible.

Five out of the six stores sent store managers to an evaluation meeting on June 13, 2002.  All of these store managers said they definitely would do a food waste project again.   All five stores reported said that additional labor costs for the pilot were negligible.  Separating the food waste took staff approximately one-half hour per day, which translated into approximately a $19 to $20 per day in payroll costs.  (Store names are withheld to preserve each store’s confidential information.)  The sixth store reported labor inefficiencies resulting from its physical layout, with significant walking distances and elevation changes between service doors and the food-waste dumpster. 

Food Waste Markets

WasteCap Wisconsin staff worked with many different food waste markets and was approached by or discovered potential new markets for food residuals in the Milwaukee area.  These markets included the following firms:

·         Growing Power participated in WasteCap’s pilot program in 2000 and has a strong interest in continuing and expanding their food residual composting operations.  Through the grant from Greater Milwaukee Foundation, we were able to spend time to help Growing Power expand its operations and get a WDNR permit to accept more than 50 cubic yards of food waste at its facility.  By working with Growing Power on this effort, WasteCap Wisconsin learned the steps necessary to obtain WDNR approval for compost facilities that could accept food waste.  As a result, WasteCap Wisconsin can provide similar assistance to other firms in the future; this type of assistance would be valuable especially to farmers, who typically lack the resources of time and expertise that would be needed to gain regulatory approval for this type of operation.

·         Waste Management’s Pheasant Run Recycling and Disposal Facility composts cranberry hulls and duck manure.  WasteCap Wisconsin provided the link between this facility and Maple Leaf Farms (see below).  Due to this match, Waste Management is now considering expanding its composting operations (and possibly including food waste) on land available at Maple Leaf Farms.  We also held preliminary discussions with Waste Management and Woodman’s grocery store chain to explore hauling food waste from Woodman’s stores to a nearby Waste Management composting facility.

·         Maple Leaf Farms operates a mortality composting operation at its duck farm and is interested in expanding its composting operations to accept food waste.  The firm must wait to develop these operations, however, until an end market is established for the final product.  Maple Leaf Farms is closely following the development of Wisconsin Department of Transportation specifications for compost as erosion control to help develop future markets.

·         Superior Services’ Emerald Park has plans to expand its yard-waste composting operations and is proposing to include food waste in the expansion.  If this develops, Superior Services also may involve its hauling operations to deliver materials to the facility.

·         NutraCycle Inc. produces animal feed pellets from food waste with processing plants in Orlando, Florida, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  WasteCap Wisconsin staff held several meetings with NutraCycle during this pilot as it considered siting a facility in the Milwaukee area.  However, the firm has gone bankrupt and closed its facilities.

·         REC Systems worked with WasteCap Wisconsin in 2000 to test feeding food waste to pigs.  In 2001, working with WasteCap, REC Systems tested feeding pigs with food pellets made from food waste.  They found that food pellets containing food waste reduced costs for producing healthy pigs.

·         Waukesha County Food Recovery Task Force has a mission to better connect businesses with surplus food items with food pantries.  During this project, WasteCap Wisconsin staff served on this task force, provided guidance for organizational development, and helped develop the agency’s food recovery program.  The Task Force received funding from Milwaukee Nonprofit Center for professional assessment of its development process and recommendations for optimum management.  The Task Force is raising funds to secure a program manager in the fall of 2002.

·         S&R Compost composted the material collected from the grocery stores in the three-month collection pilot. 

S&R Compost composts the leaves for many municipalities in Southeastern Wisconsin, including the City of Wauwatosa and all Waukesha County municipalities, and composts poultry manure from its Whitewater egg farm.  As food waste mixed with leaves has the potential to produce a high-quality compost, Frank Schimpf of S&R Compost agreed to accept food waste and waxed cardboard from grocery stores for three months in early 2002.  WasteCap Wisconsin determined acceptable quantities and convenient locations for waste collection.  S&R Compost received a $15 per ton tipping fee for the food waste. 

S&R Compost accepted the organics, ground them, and composted them.  The firm also developed proper composting recipes and process management strategies for composting the food waste and waxed cardboard.  Food waste turned to compost in approximately thirty days, but the cardboard took ninety days.  WasteCap Wisconsin staff assisted S&R Compost by ensuring that it had proper permits and linking the firm with local and national contacts who could help develop the recipes and strategies.  These recipes and strategies can be used by other markets around Wisconsin.

·         WasteCap Wisconsin also facilitated a connection between Frank Schimpf of S&R Compost and Father Dominic Roscioli of Father Dom’s Duck Doo, a compost product.  This connection may result in a market for S&R Compost’s entire supply of chicken manure compost.

Waste Haulers

WasteCap Wisconsin met with a dozen area haulers on March 14, 2001, to determine what they would need in order to be able to bid on a hauling route of food residuals.  We also asked what their interest would be in developing an organics collection route.  The response to the idea was positive, and a few haulers expressed interest in the potential of developing such a route. 

WasteCap Wisconsin staff also held individual meetings with two of the haulers to work out details, including type of truck that may be used for collection, type of containers that the generators would need to use, amount of organics that would need to be generated in order to make it work, the time of a hauler to collect, and other particulars.

For the three-month collection pilot, WasteCap Wisconsin sent a request for proposals to potential haulers.  After review of proposals from four haulers, Best Disposal was chosen.  Dumpsters varied in size from two to eight cubic yards and were equipped with locks to prevent contamination of food waste with other waste materials.  Each of the stores arranged a three-month contract with Best Disposal and paid the hauler directly for collection bins and hauling services.  Hauling costs included driver, gas, and equipment use and maintenance. 

We were very pleased with Best Disposal and with the enthusiastic driver who participated in the pilot.  This driver kept careful track of quantities of compost at each stop and informed WasteCap if there was mixed trash in the food-waste dumpster.  In follow up interviews, Best Disposal reported that the pilot was cost effective and that having the six-store, 11-mile collection route was a benefit. 

Technical Partners

Through the course of this project, WasteCap Wisconsin partnered with many organizations for technical assistance, market development, and program management.  These organizations include:

·         Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

WDNR staff helped ensure that food waste markets were properly licensed and assisting WasteCap Wisconsin and participating farmers with their applications for compost facility permits.  The agency also provided technical assistance and information on other composting resources.

·         University of Wisconsin Soil Science Department/Fox River Valley Organics Recycling Project (FRVOR) WasteCap Wisconsin corresponded closely with members of the FRVOR team to share success stores and avoid pitfalls as both organics recovery projects move forward.  Phil Wells, FRVOR program manager, shared information on project development and processing methods for organics.

·         University of Wisconsin – River Falls

Agricultural economics Professor Jerry Nolte and agricultural engineer Professor Bob Butler have provided cost-tracking and composting technical assistance. 

·         Center for Ecological Technology

The Massachusetts organization provided technical, statistical and program management assistance based on its successful food waste recovery program.

·         Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

WDATCP provided technical assistance regarding feeding food waste to animals.

·         BioCycle Magazine

BioCycle Magazine helped promote WasteCap’s food recovery efforts to a national audience.

2.  DELINIATE ANY PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED, UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OR LESSONS LEARNED DURING THE TERM OF THE GRANT. 

In mid April 2002, just two weeks before the end of the three-month food waste collection pilot, S&R Compost contacted WasteCap Wisconsin to report contamination of the material reaching them.  Plastic bags, nylon potato bags, bottles and other contaminants were showing up in the food waste delivered to S&R Compost, as was a high volume of waxed cardboard.  S&R Compost then declined to accept additional material, and collection at the stores halted Monday, April 22.  WasteCap Wisconsin staff visited S&R Compost as soon as possible to assess the situation first-hand and discuss it with S&R Compost staff, and S&R Compost agreed to continue the project to its completion.  WasteCap Wisconsin also called each of the stores to advise managers of the contamination problem and ask them to correct it.  Best Disposal was asked to monitor the containers at collection.  Negotiations with S&R Compost, the stores, and the hauler were successful, and food-waste collections were resumed by the end of the week on Friday, April 26.

Store representatives at the end-of-pilot evaluation meeting reported the following unexpected benefits and lessons learned.  Staff from three of the five stores suggested that the size of the 4-cubic-yard container could have been increased to a 6-yard container, or collections could have been more frequent than the twice a week schedule on Mondays and Fridays.  The five stores represented at the meeting reported that initial education of staff on the importance of separating organic material (fruit, vegetables, bakery) and waxed cardboard from contaminating materials (plastic bags, string bags) was essential to avoiding the composting problems during the pilot. 

If the pilot were continued through the summer months, odor problems would need to be prevented by washing out the bins more frequently.  Odor problems also could be solved by locating the dumpster away from receiving doors. Dumpsters located near the back door were a concern for one store, where rodents, flies, and bees were occasional problems.  Also cited as a concern was security, as the pilot required grocery staff to exit and enter the building more frequently than normal.

Reduction in waste hauling costs was a benefit realized in all but one case, which reported no net gain or loss.  Another benefit was staff awareness and education.  One store’s manager reported, “It got people thinking about the environment.”  As a result, store staff became more aware of other opportunities for waste reduction and/or reuse in the store, especially reduction of food waste during trimming and other preparation.  Positive publicity and enhanced community relations also were cited as unexpected benefits. 

From the waste hauler’s perspective, two problems encountered were occasional contamination of the food waste with plastic bags, string bags, and other non-food waste debris, and the distance of the compost facility from the food-waste collection route. 

The food separating practices initiated by the pilot continues to benefit area food pantries.  Waukesha County Food Pantry reported that a meeting has been scheduled with representatives of three grocery stores to set up a collection schedule for edible past-prime fruits, vegetables, and bakery products to supply the Waukesha Food Pantry inventory.

News Media Interest

A great deal of news media interest has been shown for the Food Waste Recovery Pilot.  News stories about the program appeared in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Waukesha Freeman, and FOX-6 television news in the Milwaukee area.  A feature article in the Wisconsin Grocers Association trade magazine provided statewide coverage of the project.  Articles also were published for nationwide circulation in two trade magazines, BioCycle and Waste News.  Examples of media interest are enclosed with this report.

Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has invited WasteCap Wisconsin staff to present an abstract of the project for possible inclusion in the “Multiyear Experimentation with Food Waste Alternatives” section of its annual meeting, to be held in Long Beach, California, October 31, 2002.  A WasteCap staff member also gave a public presentation about the pilot at a conference held during 2002.

3. WHAT ARE THE FUTURE PLANS FOR THE PROJECTS CONTINUATION?

All six stores, the waste hauler, and the compost facility endorsed the potential for the program to expand and continue on a long-term basis.  WasteCap Wisconsin has received a number of inquiries from other parts of the state and the nation for information about its food waste recovery efforts. 

Five of six stores participating experienced cost savings; the sixth store reported that cost savings resulting from reduced mixed-trash collection were offset by the cost of food-waste collection.  The five stores reported that those savings would increase with a regular, expanded program.  The compost facility also wanted greater volumes of food waste.  In the future, designating one dumpster for waxed cardboard and one for food waste, or eliminating waxed cardboard from the food-waste stream, will resolve the problem of having two materials with different rates of decomposition. 

Based on the apparent success of this pilot in demonstrating the viability of food waste recovery from grocery stores, a next step would be to enlist management of one or more firms in chain-wide programs of food waste recovery.  Projected benefits are reductions in waste disposal in landfills and the demonstrated potential for positive employee, customer, and community feelings about the program.

Best Disposal reported that it could have hauled larger quantities from more stores. This would be especially desirable if compost facilities were to be located in Franklin or on Milwaukee’s south or north sides.  The hauler felt there could be a profitable future for using food waste as animal feed, based on conversation with two farmers who approached him recently about the possibility of obtaining potato waste for that purpose.   

In an informal interview with a farmer selling organic potatoes at the Madison Farmers’ Market at the end of June 2002, WasteCap Wisconsin staff learned that the farmer is restoring fertility to 12 acres of farmland in the Platteville area. To do this, he needs 35 tons of compost.  The grower, who teaches agriculture to high school students, said he would be happy to put WasteCap Wisconsin in touch with other Wisconsin farmers who could benefit from food waste compost.

WasteCap Wisconsin staff working on food waste recovery for the past two years reported that the missing component in food waste recovery is markets.  As a result, future efforts should be directed to exploring potential market development for food-waste compost.  Some of this work has begun.  WasteCap Wisconsin is working to influence state and local transportation agencies to include compost in design specifications for highway projects, where the material could reduce soil erosion, enhance germination of cover vegetation, and reduce the expense of silt fencing and mat covering.  This effort may be aided by literature summaries and field trials that demonstrate the value of compost in landscaping projects.

Several WasteCap Wisconsin staff were involved in this project: Jenna Kunde, former Executive Director and current Associate Director; Katie Kaluzynski; former Outreach Specialist and current organic farming intern; Ellen Rulseh, Outreach Specialist; Ralph McCall, Interim Director; and Richard Moen, Executive Director.

4. PLEASE ATTACH A FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING FOR THE PROJECT, SPECIFYING THE USE OF FOUNDATION FUNDS.

Financial Accounting of the Expenditure of Grant Funds from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Gerda A. Debelak Fund for WasteCap Wisconsin’s work to reduce food waste and support food recovery systems in the Greater Milwaukee Metropolitan Area by serving as the link between business food waste generators, haulers, reuse markets, and farmers who compost food waste.

July 9, 2002

Program/Project Expenses