Food scraps — spoiled fruits and vegetables, stale bakery items, kitchen prep trimmings, and leftover plate scrapings — can be composted into a beneficial soil amendment, thus greatly reducing the amount of material going into landfills. Large compost systems can be used to compost food scraps at the sites where they are produced, for example, grocery stores, restaurants, cafeterias and other food service institutions.
In 2001 the California Grey Bears completed a project to evaluate on-site composting of food scraps to reduce disposal costs. A report on their project was completed in September 2001. Over the course of ten months, the Grey Bears composted 12 tons (66 cubic yards) of fruit, vegetable and bread scraps and saved $982 on avoided disposal fees. The Report Summary and the Full Report are available below.
For information on financial or technical assistance
for food scrap diversion contact:
| Karin Grobe |
Organic
Recyclers Anonymous
Phone: (831) 427-3452
Email |
