There is a lot happening and an enormous opportunity for economic gain in the field of waste to energy and organics recycling - and restaurants and foodservice are in the middle of it.  We attended BioCycle Magazine's 8th Annual Conference on Renewable Energy from Organics Recycling in Madison, WI, Oct 6-8 and learned a lot.

This is real and the better you prepare for it, the easier it will be to assimilate.  States are legislating and encouraging efforts to increase energy independence and decrease the waste stream.  Judy Ziewacz of the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence outlined her state's Roadmap, which includes government leadership (utilities MUST generate or use 10% renewable energy by 2015) and a focus on Wisconsin's strengths (they have a lot of biomass to generate bio-energy with). 

It would be unwise to assume that commercial kitchens can avoid the movement to make use of organic waste products.  Steps taken now to position commercial foodservice and equipment manufacturers to take advantage of waste management and recycling will pay off.  At the very least, be cautious about moving in a direction that will be more expensive to reverse in the future.  Assume that food and compostable waste recycling will become mandated, politically advantageous and/or cost effective.

For details on the conference and presentations, go to https://www.jgpress.com/conferences1/conferences1.html
 
Mary Esther
metreat@ideaswelldone.com

Small Appliance Ventilation Issues 

 

There are no national regulations for ventilating small countertop appliances, yet for years I have heard anecdotal stories about local inspectors requiring installation under a hood for appliances that are often located outside of the hood area.   Often I heard ominous comments that regulations were in the works to mandate ventilation for even the smallest toasters, for example, toasters used for hotel breakfast programs or ovens used at "box store" tasting stations. 

Restaurant operators: I want a real understanding of what you experience in the field.  What small appliances have you put under a hood at the request of an inspector?  What appliances have you decided to eliminate or do without because they would have to go under a hood?  Send your comments to me at metreat@ideaswelldone.com.

For any inspectors receiving this newsletter: what does your jurisdiction require regarding small countertop appliances (please let me know what geographical area you cover)?  What regulations do you think will be adopted in the next ten years in this area?

Some countertop cooking appliances in certain locations should have proper ventilation.  In fact, we have designed and built a simple ventilation system that we believe will meet the needs of most local jurisdictions and it can be adapted to accommodate a variety of pieces.  We hope the information you generously provide by emailing me at metreat@ideaswelldone.comwill help us and others ensure that you can use the equipment you need where you need it.

Food scraps make up 12.4% of total municipal solid waste generation, a percentage that has been slowly increasing since 1980.  What is particularly frustrating is that only 2.2% of food waste is "recovered" (recycling, composting, energy recovery) - the rest goes to landfill.Livestock and landfills are the largest sources of ammonia emissions. A hierarchy of methods for reducing surplus food:

1.     source reduction - reduce the volume of food waste generated

2.     feed hungry people - donate extra food to food banks

3.     feed animals - divert food scraps to animal feed

4.     Industrial uses/rendering - provide waste oils for rendering and fuel conversion and food scraps for digestion to recover energy

5.     composting - create a nutrient-rich soil amendment (see sidebar on Somat)

6.     landfill/incineration - last resort for disposal

Food waste improves anaerobic digester system performance. A dairy farm using a digester can generate revenue by generating their own electricity, selling excess energy and charging food waste tipping fees. I wouldn't be surprised if partnerships between kitchens and farms are put in place as an alternative to the $95/ton tipping fee charged in NY.