[GreenYes] Regarding food waste in the sewer versus the garbage can:

[Jay Donnaway <jdonnawa@dca.state.ga.us>]

I don't have any ready documentation to quote, but it would seem to me that
running food waste through the sanitary sewer may be best.  If the
wastewater treatment plant uses anaerobic digestion, it is much more
efficient a digester than an MSW landfill, and a much higher percentage of
the methane will be recovered for beneficial use.  If treated in an
aerobic-only wastewater plant, the resulting CO2 release will still have
less of a greenhouse impact than vented methane from a landfill, as even
landfills with advanced gas collection systems do let some methane escape.
Also, I understand that due to stormwater and groundwater infiltration, many
wastewater plant inflows are too dilute, and cannot sustain a sufficient
microbe density to adequately treat the waste during normal detention times
without being "sweetened" by food waste, septage pumpout, etc..  
	It could also be argued that transporting the food waste via
pipeline has less of an impact than in a sanitation truck, and could have
fringe benefits such as a reduction in vectors and odor, a decrease in the
required frequency of waste collection, and reduced leachate quantities.  Of
course, this is based upon the condition that increased water use by food
disposal units and the increase in biochemical oxygen demand can be handled
by the existing water treatment infrastructure.  Especially in a commercial
kitchen, disposal units would seem an excellent application for greywater,
such as the hot water exiting dishwashers and food prep sinks.
Jay Donnaway
State Recycling Coordinator
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
60 Executive Park South, NE
Atlanta, GA 30329-2231
TEL: 404-679-3161
FAX:  404-679-0646
Email: jdonnawa@dca.state.ga.us

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