Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year—approximately 1.3 billion tons—gets lost or wasted. Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources, including water, land, energy, labor, and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change. Finally, a U.S. city with a population of 100,000 spends an average of over a million dollars a year landfilling food waste. Thus, public works departments have been receiving an increasing number of requests from citizens, government officials, and community activists to begin or expand programs to recover food waste. In addition, the Chinese Sword has reduced and even eliminated the value of many recyclables that municipalities collect. Because of this market downturn, cities are increasingly interested in diverting material that can be sold domestically. Organics, such as food waste, can be converted into compost and renewable energy that have a local market value for both the solid waste and wastewater treatment divisions of public works departments. These conditions make food waste an attractive material for public works directors to target for recovery. While there is definitely an abundance of food being landfill disposed, building a food waste recovery infrastructure that is technically and financially sustainable requires careful analysis of costs and revenue potential, the most appropriate technologies, and desire of food waste generators to convert food waste into a resource.
Proficiency Level
Advanced
Learning Objectives
- Identify the various technologies used to compost food waste and convert food waste to biogas at waste water treatment, and how these technologies interface with operating logistics such as acreage available and waste water treatment facility permits
- Realize the capital and O&M costs associated with designing, developing, and operating a food waste recovery system
- Describe how to assess market conditions for securing organic feedstock, selling a marketable product, and evaluation of the relationship between local and international markets since the Chinese Sword
Contributor/Source
Karen Luken
Related Resources
Proficiency Levels
Introductory
Focuses on a general or broad overview of the topic, awareness of basic factual recall. Limited experience of the subject matter is necessary to understand content areas.
Applied
Focuses on practical implementation of technical steps or strategies, some prior knowledge and experience of the topic is necessary.
Advanced
Mastery of basic concepts associated with an area has been obtained. Focuses on understanding nuances, advanced concepts, and intricacies with implementation within knowledge area. Strong understanding of how the concept impacts other factors or areas of operations.
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