Good dialogue.
Note that the WSJ article, which I read, was not a glib endorsement but
really just a descriptive report of what's happening in Malmo, Sweden -
and a few other European cities. The garbage disposall was invented in
the US and heavily marketed here wth the post-WW2 housing boom - 50%
mkt penetration now. It never had much mkt in Europe but now is being
positioned as a green strategy there as limits of successful backyard
composting are being reached in places like Germany that have done it
for a while. The article reports on a study by Carol Diggelman in '98
looking at 5 different ways of managing food waste, and concluded that
disposals that fed to water treatment plants w/ CH4-to-energy recovery
had a more benign enviro. footprint than trucking food waste to LFs or
even to compost fcilities. anyone have a copy of tha study? Would love
to see the discussion in that.
David Biddle wrote:
Re: [GreenYes] Re: Growing Global Interest in Food Waste
Disposers
Kendall-I would
love a copy of the WSJ article.
Dan- It seems to me that the problems that biosolid systems are having
in this country are more a function of a dilapidated or under-sized
infrastructure and that this issue calls forth the need to seriously
examine that infrastructure. Also, in your climate backyard composting
is probably a bit more doable than in northern climates like
Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, etc. In addition, in many cities people
don’t have space, literally. Here in Philly the majority of backyards
are postage size. Finally, in studies I’ve seen, while the residential
food waste component is high, the commercial and institutional fraction
is much higher. Short of daily collection of roll-out carts, what is a
Hilton Hotel supposed to do with their 2,000+ pounds of food scrap and
sauces?
I’m advocating (and Kendall and I have talked about this often) for a
very careful and thorough analysis of all the options for really
solving this problem, especially for the commercial sectors. If it
means that cities need to look at renovating with $200 million bond
options or privatizing their sewer systems, or whatever, then so be it.
Certainly, if the Bay Area is struggling the way you say it is, this
process must already be underway. I would hope all the Waste-Heads
their are looking to be a part of the solution.
db
--
David Biddle, Executive Director
<http://www.gpcrc.com>
Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Council
P.O. Box 4037
Philadelphia, PA 19118
215-247-3090 (desk)
215-432-8225 (cell)
on 2/28/08 4:16 PM, Dan Knapp at dr.ore@no.address wrote:
I
believe that sewage treatment plants in the San Francisco Bay Area
would not be enthusiastic about the WSJ's glib endorsement of garbage
disposals to reduce solid waste. I have read several articles in the
local press about how these plants are so maxed out that they are
sometimes forced to dump untreated sewage into streams that drain to
the Bay. In late January one major sewage release in Marin County
amounting to millions of gallons was one of the lead stories on the
evening news for a couple of weeks. Following that spill, lots of dead
shorebirds were found in the area, although no conclusive link was
established. Also, sewage treatment facilitiy operators are advising
customers via mailings never to put grease into the sewage
system at all, since it creates pipe blockages not to mention lots of
Biological Oxygen Demand.
The best option is to compost food in your own backyard along with all
the yard trimmings, food paper, and other organics such as cotton
clothing. I've done it for decades, and it's very satisfying,
especially when combined with growing food in the enriched soil you get
when you actually use the finished compost. My soil horizon in the
food garden is now about eight inches deep after fifteen years of soil
amending with dozens of cubic yards of humus. I'm also taking carbon
that used to be in the air and putting it into the soil, where it
nourishes the soil critters and fungi that help plants grow. The soil
is much easier to work than the heavy clay that I had to start with; no
clods at all, and it holds water like a sponge.
Next best is to use curbside food and yard debris collection; these
centralized processing systems are proliferating all over the Bay Area
right now.
Dan Knapp
Urban Ore, Inc., a reuse and recycling business in Berkeley, CA for 27
years.
On Feb 28, 2008, at 11:54 AM, Kendall Christiansen wrote:
On
Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal featured a report about the growing
international interest – with a focus on the EU – in the efficacy of
food waste disposers (aka garbage disposals) as an environmental
management tool, for immediate diversion of food scraps from the solid
waste stream, and relying on wastewater treatment plants to process the
solids in fertilizer products with energy recovery where possible. In
particular, it noted the experience of several cities that have
intentionally opted for disposer-based systems for food scrap
management.
Given that the WSJ remains subscription-based, if you’d like a copy of
the article – as well as its Environmental Capital blog post on the
same topic – please let me know and I’ll forward. If you would like
access to one or more of the reports referenced in the article, let me
know that, too.
Kendall
Christiansen
Gaia Strategies
151 Maple Street
Brooklyn, NY 11225
o: 718.941.9535;
cell: 917.359.0725
the writer is
senior consultant on environmental affairs for InSinkErator, the
leading manufacturer of residential and commercial food waste
disposers, and former Chair of NYC’s Citywide Recycling Advisory Board
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