Since the start of pilot program in July 2012, Manhattan Beach’s Food Waste Management has recycled 8,544,640 pounds of food waste from businesses and residences. Anna Luke-Jones, a senior management analyst in the city’s Public Works Department, said the pounds of food waste recycled since 2012 is equivalent to 190 tractor trailers of food. “We are so proud of our Manhattan Beach community for caring so deeply about the environment, making the extra effort, and building a successful food waste program with each passing week,” Luke-Jones said.
Since the commercial program was implemented citywide in August 2015, businesses have recycled 1,212,960 pounds of food waste. An additional 18,640 pounds have been recycled since the residential program began in September 2015.
Currently, there are more than 60 businesses participating on a weekly basis, Luke-Jones said. It’s unclear how many residents are participating in the program. Residents use the green cart for both yard waste and food waste, making it difficult to determine the exact number of residents who participate. The food waste recycling program was the result of a multi-year effort by the City’s Environmental Task Force and City Council to implement a citywide solution to divert food waste from landfills, Luke-Jones said.
Residents can collect all food scraps in a plastic bag, tie off the top of the bag and place the bag into the green waste cart. They are encouraged to reuse plastic bags, such as bagel or tortilla bags, to collect the food scraps. For businesses, Waste Management visits the business, trains the their staff, and provides all kitchen educational materials and food waste carts or a two-yard food waste bin. Food scraps are placed in any plastic bag and then disposed in the cart or bin.
For both programs, all food scraps are accepted, including meat, dairy and oily foods. Waste Management places the bags and food scraps into a centrifuge at its CORe facility in Orange, converting the material to an engineered bio-slurry, Luke-Jones said. The engineered bio-slurry is transported to the Los Angeles County Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson and placed into an anaerobic digester where it is converted to energy.
To read the full story, visit http://tbrnews.com/news/manhattan-beach-food-waste-program-recycled-million-pounds-since/article_bcc4a38a-ac25-11e6-a470-1376873e5c29.html.