Food Wastes are generated from a wide variety of sources and each waste stream requires a unique approach, method or process to optimize recovery
Household Food Wastes
One method of reducing Residential Household Food Wastes entering into the waste stream
is for individuals to
Compost
their own food wastes.
In circumstances where space is a challenge, communal composting may be practiced or
on a municipal scale a
wet/dry
program may be implemented.
Restaurant Food Wastes
If you wish to recycle
Restaurant Food Wastes
ADD you request into the Global Recycling Network exchange.
The exchange service matches waste users and waste generators directly online.
Wet Restaurant wastes may be handled as bulk
Organic Wastes,
meat fats and greases may be
Rendered
and there is popular demand for Used Vegetable Oil
UVO
Fruit & Vegetable Wastes
If you wish to recycle Fruit & Vegetable Wastes,
Please ADD your own
Fruit &
Vegetable
Wastes inquiry into the Food Waste Exchange.
The exchange service was established to connect generators of produce wastes directly with beneficial users of the waste stream.
Fruit & Vegetable Wastes from processing plants, distribution and grocery locations may be
used directly as livestock feed (ideal for pig feed).
Alternatively these streams can be diverted for
composting
or digestion.
De-Packaged Food Recovery
If you wish to recycle
DePackaged Food Wastes
Please ADD your own inquiry to the Global Recycling Network exchange.
The exchange service connects waste generators with parties that can provide Packaged Food Recovery services.
There are companies that specialize in providing a food de-packaging service to separate food products from packaging materials.
The segregated food products can be further processed for recovery and the
packaging materials can be sent into the appropriate
recycling streams.
The packaging materials typically consist of metals, glass, plastic or paper,
but there are some complex multi-material packages like tetra pac and
Aseptic Packaging
that need to be dealt with.
Surplus Food
If you wish to deal with
Surplus Food
Please ADD your own inquiry to the Global Recycling Network exchange.
The exchange service connects those with Surplus Food Inventory with parties that wish to obtain Surplus Foods.
Food Donation Programs, Food Banks
If you wish to buy or sell
Compost
or Organic Fertilizers, please make an inquiry to connect with waiting buyers & sellers.
The Composting Process
Composting is the natural process where organic materials and food wastes decompose into a end product called compost.
This process recycles the organic materials, that would otherwise be regarded as waste products,
into a
soil conditioner
that is rich in essential nutrients for plant growth and is often used as fertilizer.
The decomposition process may be optimized by reducing the various materials entering the composting stream
into a uniform size.
Primary curing occurs during the first 30 days or so and compost turning aerates the materials and aids in the speed of digestion.
The secondary curing occurs over several months and is dependant on temperature & moisture.
Once cured the bulk compost is ready for distribution or may be packaged/bagged for marketing.
Composting is a slow natural process and
indoor composting is difficult due to the high moisture and corrosive nature while the primary curing occurs,
controlled
Organic Waste digestion
may be a preferred method to manage larger ongoing volumes of wet waste streams.
Vermi Culture
Vermi composting is a fully natural process that uses worms to digest organic materials and food wastes,
a process that is faster than traditional composting.
At the end of the worms life cycle a material known as
Worm Casings
is produced.
Nutrient Residues
All plant and animal matter contains nutrients as basic elemental building blocks of life.
Residual Nutrients accumulate in organic wastes, Anaerobic Digestion sludges and waste water treatment facilities.
One method of treating these Sludges or
Bio Residuals
is through the harvesting of a material known as
Struvite
which may be used as a fertilizer.
Common NPK
fertilizers
are rich in Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium.
Phosphorus Recovery
Phosphorus and Phosphate Recovery efforts are largely driven as a result of the
tightening of regulations that restrict the discharge of Phosphorus from waste water treatment facilities into
waterways in the open environment.
The continuous release of Phosphorus (P) into the water ecosystem results in a concentrated build up of the P.
High levels of phosphorus promotes the growth of
Algae
blooms which produce algal toxins that can be harmful to both human and animal health.
Various methods of
Phosphorus Recovery
are currently employed or being explored.
One such treatment approach uses the controlled growth of Algae, at the point of origin, to reduce P discharge.
Other efforts are focused on the production of value added streams such as
Ferro Phosphorus
and industrial Phosphates, as well as
fertilizers
and
Soil Amendment
materials.
Nitrogen Reclamation
The concentration of
Nitrogen
in organic wastes, sludges and Bio Residuals provides the opportunity for
Nitrogen Reclamation.
Management systems for
Manure
& Animal Waste better allow for the control of concentration levels of elements such as nitrogen and other
accumulated nutrients.
Potassium Waste
There are a number of common sources of
Potassium Wastes
which may include Potassium Oxide (K2O) found as a content in certain
Residual Aluminosilicate
Materials.
The use of Hydroxide materials such as
KOH
may play a key role in exothermic energy generation or may act as an absorbant to assist in the capture of CO2.
Residuals Management
The consolidation of trace elements from waste stream residues and sludges is the natural flow point for
the opportunity for the concentration and recovery of inorganic
minerals,
nutrients and
heavy metals.
The potential exists to capture values from late stage waste streams such as
residues and sludges or Solid Recovered Fuel
SRF,
as feedstocks for the elemental thermal disposition in a
Bio-Refinery.
