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          ARRoGANT                CoURiERS      WiTH     ESSaYS

Grade Level:       Type of Work           Subject/Topic is on:
 [ ]6-8                 [ ]Class Notes    [Composting an the       ]
 [ ]9-10                [ ]Cliff Notes    [Grocery Industry        ]
 [x]11-12               [x]Essay/Report   [                        ]
 [ ]College             [ ]Misc           [                        ]

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                   COMPOSTING AND THE GROCERY INDUSTRY

The following bulletin was prepared from Grocery Industry Committee on
Solid Waste October 24, 1991

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    Solid waste composting is an important component of an integrated
solution for solid waste management.  Composting can divert organic,
compostable materials, not otherwise recycled, from the solid waste stream
and convert them into a useful product. Composting is environmentally
sound, technically and economically feasible and meets local waste
management needs.

    This report, from the Grocery Compost Task Force to the Grocery
Industry Committee on Solid Waste (GICSW), is intended to establish
composting as a viable and sustainable component of an integrated solution
for solid waste management.  To do this the industry supports the
development of composting systems for grocery manufacturers and retailers,
and the development of the supporting infrastructure.  Composting can
handle from 30 to 60 percent of all municipal solid waste, including food
waste, yard waste and paper and paperboard waste.

    The grocery industry is committed to a high level of product
stewardship. This commitment includes the environmentally sound management
of wastes generated at the retail levl as well as wastes from grocery
products after they have been sold and used by consumers.  Much of this
waste is organic in nature and landfilled.

    From a product stewardship perspective the grocery industry believes
that composting is a more environmentally sound management practice than
disposal for managing these wastes.  While single stream and segregated
stream composting may be more readily available for many manufacturers' and
retailers' own waste, MSW composting is an attractive alternative for waste
created by consumers.

    This report focuses on grocery retailer composting programs, but will
also address goals and programs for manufacturers.

    Food waste plus wet and waxed corrugated from retailers alone accounts
for 6.6 million tons per year of waste that could be composted rather than
discarded, which is nearly 4 percent of all municipal solid waste (MSW).
Disposal of those wastes costs the grocery retailers $482 million per year,
eating up the pre-tax profits from $34 billion of grocery retail sales.

    All food waste produced directly by manufacturers and retailers, as
well as home food waste produced by grocer shoppers, comprises nearly 20
percent of the entire grocery industry's wastes.  On a store level, over 90
percent of the solid waste is deemed by this task force to be most
representative of a "typical" store, produce 43 percent of their waste as
food waste.  Almost all corrugated is recyclable or compostable.  30
percent of the corrugated produced by a grocery store is either wet or
waxed, precluding its recyclabiliy.

    Composting can achieve important benefits for the grocery industry
including:

1.  Meeting the demands of grocery customers who are demanding more
environmentally sound and responsible ways of managing solid waste;
2.  Proactively controlling waste disposal tonnage and expenses;
3.  Supporting governmental initiatives for landfill diversion and
material recovery;
4.  Encouraging recycling of other materials; and
5.  Making the best use of natural and man-made resources by
converting organic waste into compost instead of landfilling them.

    Each grocery industry facility should evaluate how best to handle its
compostable waste.  As detailed in the report, there are several possible
approaches to handle mixed organics from the solid waste stream.
Regardless of the approach, it is important for the industry to help
establish a composting infrastructure.  Market development is a key element
of this infrastructure and the grocery industry supports market development
initiatives.

    Depending upon the compost program, compost processors may require or
prefer source-separated homogeneous food wastes to obtain maximum control
over end-product quality.  Source-separated materials may have greater
value to the end user because of the densification and readiness for
processing, and therefore may lead to lowest collection and processing
costs for the generator.

    For grocery retailers, this report focuses on segregated stream
composting.  Because the industry can generate a source-separated product,
free of harmful wastes and relatively free of inert materials, it can
easily be integrated into whichever composting program is most likely to be
available locally.

    This report explains the various ways to handle, collect, transport and
process grocery store wastes for composting.  In general, the GICW
recommentds:

  *  Collection of compostables in dedicated barrels;
  *  Pickup and transportation of the compostables either by
loading barrels into a truck or by emptying the barrels into a
dedicated dumpster or compactor for collection by a hauler;
  *  Composting at the best locally available site; and
  *  Careful training of store employees to maximize participation
and minimize contamination.

    Several specific recommendations addressing issues such as economic
analysis, health issues, facility flexibility and recommended
implementation steps are included.

    This report also discusses Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) composting. MSW
composting, as described here, refers to the composting of residential and
commercial separated mixed organic waste, with the recyclables and other
noncompostable materials removed.  Separation may occur at curbside or the
waste may not be transported by conventional waste vehicles to a central
site for the site separation of compostable materials from noncompostable
materials. There are 15 MSW composting facilities currently available in
the U. S.  Another 150 are in various stages of planning or development (a
new MSW facility can take 3-4 years to site, build and become operational).
Where they do exist, they should be considered by grocers for composting.
The availability of an organic fraction from the grocery industry will be
added impetus for development of community based facilities.

    The mixed organics method of collecting compostables should require
little or no change in supermarket operating methods since material
separation is accomplished on the other end by the receiver or end user.

    All composting facilities need to use the best technology available to
ensure production of compost that is safe and marketable. Attention must be
given to the separation of compostable materials from recyclables and
noncompostable waste.

    Many state and local governments, federal government through EPA and
the Solid Waste Composting Council (SWCC) are addressing composting.  In
addition, composting.  The GICSW should work with these entities toward the
common goal of developing composting as a viable solid waste management
tool.

    In order to develop end markets, the grocery industry should
demonstrate and confirm the beneficial use of compost and aggressively
promote the marketing of the product, specifically to known end users.
Product standards and end markets for compost are in the early stages of
development.  Standards for end-product quality do not exist on a federal
level but are beginning to be promulgated on a state-by-state basis.
Currently market development is planned or in progress in 11 states.  The
GICSW should become involved in market development, establishing science-
based standards, ensuring product quality, establishing pilot programs and
supporting compost legislation.  Specifically, the GICSW can play a role in
opening new outlets for compost in the agricultural community.

    The industry should move towards setting and measuring attainment of
goals to support the development of composting, such as:

  * The production of recyclable and/or compostable consumer
packaging.
  *  The recovery, through composting, of an annually escalating
proportion of manufacturer and retailer wastes.
  *  The recovery, through composting, of an annually escalating
proportion of consumer wastes

    The grocery industry should make a serious effort to publicize the
GICSW's environmental philosophy and actions, and to educate consumers, the
general public, the grocery industry and the solid waste community.  In all
cases, the GICSW recommends extreme caution against overstating any facts,
expectations or interpretations.

    The GICSW recommends that grocery manufacturers and retailers implement
a list of specific action items as soon as possible in order to promote
grocery industry composting.

    Composting is an important emerging solid waste management method that
holds great promise for grocery manufacturers, retailers and communitites.
As the cost of disposal spirals upward, and the economics of composting
improve, composting is becoming an increasingly cost-effective means of
controlling waste expenses.

    Composting is also a more environmentally responsible option than
landfilling and grocery customers are constantly raising their level of
expectations in favor of this kind of environmentally responsible behavior.

    This report should facilitate the successful implementation of new
composting programs, and addresses policy issues that will support
composting nationwide.


3.0 ROLE OF THE GROCERY INDUSTRY

Significant Portion of the Waste System

    As shown in Exhibit A, RIS estimates that 19.5 percent of the solid
waste generated directly or indirectly by the grocery industry by weight is
food waste.  This analysis includes manufacturers and retailers, as well as
home waste from grocery shoppers.  Containers and packaging represent a
significant portion of the waste stream, some of which is organic and can
be composted.

    While a grocery manufacturer's compostable wastes are highly dependent
upon the products made by that manufacturer at any given site, the
compostable wastes from retailers are more consistent from one grocery
store to another.  Keeping regional differences in mind, grocery store
compostable wastes include food waste, waxed and wet corrugated, bakery
waste, dairy products, produce, floral seafood. From January through April
1991, FMI conducted a waste composition survey, with 27 food retailers and
wholesalers responding.  The data represented in these exhibits should
serve only as a guide as waste compostion may vary depending on store
format and offering. The survey respondents were separated into three
groups:
*  wholesalers (Exhibit B);
*  large supermarket chains, definded
as having more than 50 stores (Exhibit C);
and *  small supermarket chains having 50 or fewer stores (Exhibit D).

    According to this survey, over 90 percent of the waste generated by
each of these categories is recyclable or compostable.

    Small chains showed a large proportion of their wastes were comprised
of food wastes (43 percent).  Wholesalers reported a small fraction of food
waste, since the wholesalers surveyed generally did not trim or process
perishable, unpackaged food as retailers often must do.

    The small fraction of food waste (10 percent) among large chains is
likely due to the fact that many large chains have de facto wholesale
facilities in-house, and so the relative proportion of corrugated is
greater.  This large corrugated proportion reduces the relative proportion
for food waste to only 10 percent. However, if dry, non-waxed corrugated
containers (OCC) are recycled, then between 75 percent and 90 percent of
the remaining waste is compostable food waste and paper.  (This percentage
fluctuates depending upon how much wet and waxed OCC is available for
composting rather than recycling.)  Thus, even for a "large chain" that
generates a relatively smaller percentage of food waste, the waste actually
being disposed is mostly compostable.

    This task force believes that the composition shown for small chains
(Exhibit D) is most likely to represent the composition of most typical
retail grocery stores, excluding distribution and warehousing operations.
Accordingly, it is significant that such a large percentage-43 percent- of
this waste is compostable food waste.  From a waste management perspective,
recycling of food waste via composting at the retail level is as important
as recycling corrugated boxes.

    The FMI composition survey did not differentiate between recycled, wet
or waxed corrugated.  Based on a sampling of three grocery stores in 1991,
70 percent of the corrugated containers are compostable (Exhibit E).  These
statistics enabled the task force to estimate the volume of compostable
food waste, wet and waxed corrugated produced by grocery retailers at 6.6
million tons per year. *

    The conclusion is that the grocery industry as a whole is a large
producer of wastes that are potentially very compostable.  The compostable
food waste and corrugated alone from grocery stores comprise nearly 4
percent of all municipal solid waste (MSW):

 * Retail grocery food waste, compostable wet and waxed corrugated
/all MSW (EPA, 1990) = 6.6 million tons / 179.6 million tons =    
3.7 percent.


Financial Significance of Compostable Wastes

    Futhermore, disposal of these wastes is increasingly expensive. The
National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA)  has not completed its
recent national landfill tip fee survey.  However, extrapolating from the
1988 national average tip fee to 1991 based on the recent FMI disposal
expense survey yields an average tip fee of $58 per ton for landfills.  Tip
fees for incinerators may be significantly higher.  After adding a
conservative hauling charge of $15 per ton, grocery retailers alone are
paying $482 million each year to dispose of their compostable wastes:

 *  6.6 million tons per year of compostable wastes X ($58/ton tip
fee + $15/ton hauling fee) = $481.8 million/year in grocery
retailer  disposal expense.

    To cover the expense needed to pay for their $482 million per year
disposal cost of compostable wastes, grocery retailers must, at an
FMI-estimated pre-tax net profit rate 14.3 percent of sales, sell $33.7
billion in groceries:

  *$481.8 million disposal expense / 1.43 percent pre-tax net
profit = $33.7 billion in sales.

    Because individual grocery manufacturers have such product-specific
waste streams, a similar expense for the industry overall is difficult to
estimate.  However, it is clear that, for retailers and manufacturers, the
cost of disposal is spiraling upward.  FMI documented a 26.6 percent
increase in disposal costs for its members in 1988 and a 29.2 percent
increase in 1989.  This is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing expense
items for manufacturers and retailers.

    It is interesting to note that by simply recycling corrugated boxes and
composting all compostable wastes, a grocery store can reduce the amount of
waste being landfilled by approximately by 89
