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Did you guys check out the ReFED report? I was one of the lead analysts on it, so if anyone has questions about the economics of dealing with food waste I'm happy to try and answer.
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Apr 5, 2016 17:05
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Obdicut posted:I've read it thoroughly now and can I ask if you if the composting is calculated as 'not waste' if it is composted alone, or does it have to be composted and likely to be used? I'm surprised to see it as such a huge portion of the plan (from the waste perspective) Heroic assumptions were made about the successful marketing of finished compost. We assumed that most of it would be sold, some donated, and a portion of contamination would be landfilled. There is tremendous untapped demand for compost, especially in the arid southwest, where it could be used to great benefit. Currently the market value is too low for it to be economical in many of the places that would benefit most from increased soil water retention. Even if the compost isn't used immediately, it is still a valuable and (mostly) inert product, so it can pile up for a while.
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Apr 5, 2016 22:03
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shrike82 posted:This is pretty cool but it's unfortunate that they've gone with standard corporate-speak It's definitely targeted at those who like the corporate speak. We were trying specifically to influence big players (walmart, big hotel chains, darden foods, etc) that could potentially build out a lot of infrastructure. Stuff like backhauling food waste to distribution centers that have AD on site, etc.
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Apr 5, 2016 22:06
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Industrial operations are actually really efficient at managing their food waste streams, it's grocery stores and restaurants that are the real commercial problem children. Household food waste is a huge problem because there is virtually no infrastructure in place to manage it.
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Apr 5, 2016 22:14
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Haha honestly I had nothing to do with the website. There should be a link somewhere to the actual report (as well as a technical appendix that lays out a bit more of the methodologies involved). I won't deny sloppiness though - it's a crazy thing to try and model and it's never been done this comprehensively before. I had many conversations with people in the EPA and the ERS folks at USDA, about trying to get a grip on the total amounts of food waste generated. We actually used some figures put forth by WRAP (and if you aren't familiar with their work you should check it out - they're amazing). There are a million things that I'd like to go into more detail on (like the effects of flooding the compost market on the retail price, or the difference in fugitive emissions from sewer convergence depending on the elevation change within a wastewater system) but holy poo poo did this project go way over budget. My company (a small consultancy) basically ran out of money back in October but kept working on it all the way into February and early March. There is likely to be some follow up studies, especially around small scale AD systems that could generate power and/or gas on site. Hopefully they'll be well done!
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Apr 6, 2016 02:09
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Can someone summarize the nutrition talk/food waste connection? Or is it just a derail? Either way is cool, just don't quite understand the rationale.
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Apr 15, 2016 17:24
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Cool thanks - good old goony debates are great, just wanted to get a sense of the kernel without digging through a ton of stuff if it was just a straight topic shift, which is perfectly natural. Sort of reminds me of the ultra-gmo arguments, eg if big ag could produce a rice with a full protein and vitamin schedule, should it? And what would be the implications? (Don't answer that, or if you do, probably start a new thread.) There is some interesting news about food waste - Connecticut is falling short of goals for their organics diversion programs, and that doesn't bode well for other US states pursuing similar strategies, like CA. I'll grab a link and write some thoughts when I get to a real computer.
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Apr 15, 2016 17:49
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computer parts posted:Food waste is not really that big of a deal, or at least there's not much to do without targeting individual people. Thus, the topic turned to how else food can be improved. Depends on your perspective - organic waste accounts for as much of a third of landfilled municipal waste, which is sort of a big deal if waste reduction/circular economy/ghg mitigation are high priorities.
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Apr 15, 2016 17:52
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Doc Hawkins posted:Can't organic waste just be composted? Absolutely, given the right C:N ratio and proper conditions. But the logistics and infrastructure required to compost (or digest) municipal and commercial food waste only exists in a small fraction of US communities. Setting up the logistics and infrastructure, not to mention the required education and outreach required to minimize contamination, and then successfully moving the finished compost in a healthy marketplace is a highly complex and difficult row to hoe.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:57
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