HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-19-2011 - Information Item 1.~ n ~o rya ~- i o n ~-I' ~, rrl
Memorandum
To: Frank Clifton, County Manager
From: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Director
Subject: Food Waste Collection at Local Schools
Date: Apri14, 2011
At the suggestion of the Board of County Commissioners, the Solid Waste Management
Department contacted Orange County Public Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools to explore food and organic waste collection at each school's cafeteria. Staff met
with both school systems last summer and initiated discussions regarding the possibility
of implementing a food waste collection program for each school system.
On June 8, 2010 Recycling Programs Manager Cody Marshall and I met with Orange
County Public School's Director of Child Nutrition, Valarie Green at Orange High
School. During this meeting we discussed all the cafeteria locations and Ms. Green
supplied us with some information outlining the number of .meals provided each day at
some of the schools. This information can help us understand the potential quantities of
food waste that may be available for collection at each of the schools. Both kitchen
preparation waste and food tray scraps from breakfast and lunch meals were being
considered. Orange County Public Schools only have a few locations that still use a dish
washer and most of the locations use disposable and supposedly biodegradable trays for
each lunch. We also discussed how one of-the schools received a grant to provide fresh
produce and found that, that school may be a good place to start with a pilot program.
On August 4, 2010 Cody Marshall and I met with Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School's
(CHCCS) Chartwells (the contract food management company) representative, Director
of Dinning, Liz Cartano. The same information was discussed at this meeting. We
discussed the type and amount of food that is prepared for the students and the current
lunchroom practices. We found that CHCCS also mostly used the same disposable and
biodegradable trays as Orange County Public Schools. Ms. Cartano has had past
experience with food waste collection and composting and seemed to understand all the
nuisances that go into a successful program. At the beginning of the 2010-11 school year,
they started a program that captured all their prep waste in the kitchen in order to evaluate
reducing the waste in the cafeterias. This program would capture the food prep (peels,
seeds, etc.), measure it each day with hope to decrease the excess waste as the year
progressed. The information they gathered from this exercise would be extremely helpful
when implementing a food waste program. Although we expressed interest in obtaining
this information we have yet to receive it.
Following our meeting with the schools we also met with our current food waste
collection contractor, Brooks Contracting, to discuss the possibility of adding schools to
the existing route and to share. the information from our initial meeting with both schools.
Both school districts, the food waste collection contractor, and the Solid Waste
Department all appeared very interested in moving forward and, at our suggestion, would
welcome starting with a pilot program first before implementing this service to all of the
schools.
Schools present an especially challenging opportunity for food waste collection. While
schools create substantial quantities of food waste on a daily basis during the school year,
the requirements of the composting processes necessitate fairly rigorous separation and
contamination standards. Overseeing such standards in the lunch room for each student
is a major undertaking. An ongoing food waste collection program education and
outreach campaign would be critical. We discussed with both schools systems what
would be needed in each school for a program of this magnitude, and the paradigm shift
needed for students and staff to learn how to dispose of their food waste properly. The
first step in implementing a successful food waste program would be to collect all the
prep waste and educate all the kitchen staff.
Again, we strongly recommended beginning with a pilot program at a few schools before
implementing the program system-wide. The schools and the Solid Waste Department
discussed the possibility of the pilot program including a high school and elementary
school from each school district and that we would prefer these pilot locations be
geographically close to an existing County program collection location to more
efficiently incorporate the pilot schools into the current routing. Both school districts
expressed interest in the pilot programs and would prefer that any new program to start at
the beginning of the school year.
In order to move forward with the pilot program the Solid Waste Department would need
to work closely with the schools and the collector to decide which schools would be best
for participating in the pilot program. We would need the dedication and commitment
from each of the schools for the education and outreach. After all the parties involved are
comfortable with beginning a program, we would put the schools on the existing food
waste collection route and monitor their progress for an as yet undetermined period of
time. Once the school districts, the Solid Waste Department, and the food waste collector
feel confident that a food waste collection program will be effective and efficient, the
pilot schools can meet the guidelines of proper food waste disposal, and County program
funding is available, Orange County can explore expanding food waste collection at each
school in both school districts.
In order to start collecting post consumer waste (the waste from individual trays), the
school systems may need to overhaul the way they distribute food and the way students
and staff dispose of their waste. To avoid potential contamination, condiments should not
be in small individual packets, but in bulk containers. The type of cutlery and other lunch
items will need to be evaluated to ensure the schools meet the proper guidelines for
composting. Furthermore, the trays that both school systems have purchased cannot be
disposed of with food waste. The schools will need to either purchase different trays or
make sure each individual in the school disposes of the existing trays in the garbage after
use. Even though the current tray says "biodegradable," it does not necessarily mean it is
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compostable. The trays are essentially Styrofoam and cannot be composted in our current
program. After our initial meeting, the schools are aware of this issue and may be looking
at alternatives.
The Solid Waste Department left both meetings with the schools feeling very positive
that we were on the verge of moving toward implementation of some initial pilot
program. We had requested some additional information and had assumed that each
school system were beginning internal discussions and planning necessary to proceed.
We had worked closely with our food waste collection contractor in some preliminary
pilot program planning expecting that within a few weeks each school system would be
ready to move to more detailed planning and implementation. We provided all
information to the schools that was requested of us.
Due to a number of Solid Waste Department vacancies and other workload demands we
did not aggressively follow-up in a timely manner with either school system. On
December 13, 2010 the Solid Waste Department sent afollow-up letter to each school.
The purpose of the letter was to renew communication regarding food waste collection
and stated that the Department of Solid Waste is ready to further discuss the possibilities
of a pilot program. To date, the Solid Waste Department has not heard from either district
and can only assume that interest in food waste recycling is not currently a priority for
either system. No funds are currently appropriated in the Solid Waste Management
Department budget for funding of food waste collection in the schools and staff does not
anticipate recommending this funding to the County Manager in the Fiscal 2011/12
budget request, absent some level of commitment or intentions on behalf of the school
systems.
Currently the Department of Solid Waste Management collects food waste at 221ocations
around the County. Adding the schools would be an additional 28 to 301ocations. Orange
County is currently contracting the collection service with Brooks Contracting, but will
be going out to bid in the spring of 2011. Each existing location either has carts or six
yard front end load dumpsters that collect the waste. Each time a receptacle is collected
they are rinsed out and put back in place. If the schools begin a food waste program, the
County will need to work closely with the collection contractor because it may have to
obtain additional resources to accommodate such a significant collection program
expansion. The annual tonnage for our existing food waste collection program is about
1,800 tons. Our annual food waste program expenditure is about $160,000.
The Solid Waste Management Department stands ready to reengage the local schools
systems on the issue of food waste recycling at any time. While implementation of a
comprehensive program in both school systems would be a challenge in many ways,
there would also be an opportunity to divert substantial quantities of organic waste from
the landfill and move forward toward meeting the County waste reduction goals. We
welcome any additional guidance or direction that the County Manager or Board of
Commissioners may have on this matter.
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