exploring cafeteria waste practices and metrics · •current cafeteria waste practices and metrics...

Exploring Cafeteria Waste Practices and Metrics

Speaker Slide

Environmental

Research & Education

Foundation

Bryan F. Staley, PE, PhD

President & CEO

Debra L. Kantner

Data & Policy

Program Director

• Bryan F. Staley, PE PhD

⎻ Employee: Environmental Research & Education Foundation

⎻ Nothing to Disclose

• Debra L. Kantner

⎻ Employee: Environmental Research & Education Foundation

⎻ Nothing to Disclose

Affiliation or Financial Disclosure

• Background on Waste Management and Data

• Current Cafeteria Waste Practices and Metrics

⎻ Current State of Practice in K-12 Cafeterias

⎻ Amount and Types of Wastes Generated at Lunch

• Using Waste Studies to Explore Sustainability

⎻ Data Collection Options, Goals, and Considerations

⎻ Case Studies: Schools Using Data to Increase Sustainability

Presentation Outline

What is MSW and How is it Managed?

• Solid Waste is any solid or semi-solid material that is no longer wanted by its owner and is discarded or abandoned.

• Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is solid waste discarded by the public.

What is Solid Waste & MSW?

How Much Garbage is There?

Americans generate about 382,500,000 tons……or 765,000,000,000 pounds of MSW…

in a single year.

Think of a cube of trash 8 ft high by 8 ft wide by 8 ft deep… that’s your trash footprint!

That’s about 7 pounds of trash per person each day, or 2,600 pounds in a year!

What’s in MSW?

Top Stash in the Trash:1. Paper2. Food3. Yard Trimmings

Ex: grass, leaves, branches4. Plastic

These 4 items make up 68%, or about 2/3, of everything we throw away!

Source: US EPA.

Where Does the Garbage Go?

Four primary endpoints:• Material Recovery Facility

(“MeRF”) or Recycling Facility• Compost Facility

• mostly yard waste• some food waste

• Incineration w/ energy recovery• mostly Northeast/Florida

• Landfill

How Much Goes Where?

In the U.S., • Two-thirds goes to landfill• One-quarter is recycled• The rest is either:

• composted, or • burned to create energy

(aka waste-to-energy, or WTE)

Where Do Schools Fit In?

Schools, including K-12, are one of many sources of MSW.

• Growing interest in waste reduction

⎻ Sustainability initiatives and waste reduction competitions

⎻ Growing food insecurity

⎻ Budget constraints

• School waste generation is poorly understood

⎻ Limited number of studies on waste composition or generation

at K-12 institutions

School Waste Management

• Growing interest in reducing food

waste and addressing hunger

⎻ 5 states have policy bans

⎻ Require collection and diversion of

food waste and related organics

• Initially apply to “large” generators

⎻ How do we measure “large”?

Why is Data Important?

Current Cafeteria Practices and Waste Metrics

• School Cafeteria Discards Assessment Project (SCrAP)⎻ Partnership with the School Nutrition Foundation, Keep America

Beautiful, and the World Wildlife Fund

• Research effort in K-12 Schools⎻ Document waste mgmt. practices

⎻ Measure cafeteria waste

⎻ Raise awareness at schools

What is SCrAP?

2. Measurement Activity1. Questionnaire

Elements of Participation

• SCrAP reached:

⎻ 93 schools

⎻ 82,800 students

⎻ 38 states

• Measured over 13,000 lbs

of lunch waste

SCrAP Participation

• 71% of schools offer recycling in the cafeteria

⎻ 91% of schools offer recycling somewhere in the school

• 16% of schools have backyard or garden composting

• 9% send organics to a commercial composter

K-12 Cafeteria PracticesWaste Management Programs

• Length of lunch has been shown to impact the amount

of food waste.

Reported Time Students have for Lunch

K-12 Cafeteria PracticesLunchroom Policies affecting Waste

Elementary Middle High

Average 25 minutes 25 minutes 29 minutes

Shortest 15 minutes 20 minutes 20 minutes

Longest 45 minutes 45 minutes 50 minutes

• Are fruit/veggies required?• Is a beverage required?

Who controls the portion size of meals?

State/School Students

Prepackaged Staff Only Staff portion,students select # of

servings

Staff (hot items)Students (sides)

Students Only(buffet)

• Menu impacts the amount of waste

4/24 4/27 4/21 4/18 4/28 5/5 5/8 5/9 5/10

Food Waste

Yearly cafeteria waste:

43.3 lbs per student

(0.25 lb/student each day)

72% was food/beverage

K-12 Cafeteria Waste MetricsWaste Generation

Breakdown of Cafeteria Waste Types

Nationally, Milk was 65% of unopened food, averaging:

⎻ 11 cartons/student each year

⎻ $5,460 each year per school

(retail value)

Fruit was 17% of unopened food, by weight, averaging:

⎻ $660 each year per school

(retail value)

K-12 Cafeteria Waste MetricsUnopened Food and Beverage

Breakdown of Unopened Food Types

5% 13%

Collecting and Using Waste Data at Your School

• Many options, depending on your

goals:

1. Waste Tracking

2. Waste Audit (e.g. SCrAP)

3. Detailed Waste Composition Study

4. Food Waste Audit (e.g. USDA/EPA)

Methods to Weigh Waste

• Weigh total amount of waste

leaving the cafeteria

⎻ Doesn’t require additional sorting

• What do we learn?

⎻ Track waste generation/minimization

⎻ Create a benchmark for goalsetting

Waste Tracking

• Sort and Weigh Waste Types:

⎻ Requires cooperation of students

⎻ Amount and types of waste

⎻ Create a benchmark for goalsetting

⎻ Identify waste types to target

Waste Audit (SCrAP)

• Steps for Waste Audit

1. Label bins and prepare

students for measurement

2. Help students sort waste

3. Weigh and track bin types

Waste Audit (SCrAP)

• “Sample and Sort” Waste:

⎻ Requires volunteers, space, time

⎻ Detailed composition of waste

⎻ Sortation efficiency in lunchroom

⎻ Identify problematic materials

Detailed Waste Composition Study

• Steps for Sample and Sort

1. Separate waste into discrete

categories, typically 15 – 30

2. Weigh individual materials

3. Repeat for trash, recycling, and

compost bins depending on goals

Detailed Waste Composition Study

• Track what food is wasted and why

⎻ Requires students and volunteers, time

⎻ What types of food are wasted

⎻ Why students choose to waste specific

food types

Food Waste Audit

• Steps for Food Waste Audit

1. Separate food waste into

discrete categories (e.g. fruit,

rice, dessert)

2. Weigh each category

3. Interview students about why

food was wasted

Food Waste Audit

Examples of What Some Schools Are Doing

• Opened in 2015

⎻ Pre K – 5th Grade

• Approx. 800 students

• Traditional calendar

Abbotts Creek Elementary(Wake County, NC)

• Even Small Steps Help:⎻ Friday Food Waste

• Integrate into the classroom⎻ Worm Wednesday⎻ Art Class Bin

• Sustainability and Parent Involvement: ⎻ Creation of the ACES Green Team

Abbotts Creek Elementary(Wake County, NC)

• Goal to be Tennessee’s

first sustainability magnet

school

• Approx. 550 students

• Traditional calendar

Westmeade Elementary(Nashville Metro, TN)

• Connecting students and their community

⎻ After waste audits, students were concerned about unopened food

⎻ The 4th graders initiated and effort to donate unopened food in the

local community

• Using data to change waste practices

⎻ Data was used when working with composting facilities to begin

food waste collection service

Westmeade Elementary(Nashville Metro, TN)

• Increased sustainability has many benefits, including:

⎻ Addressing food insecurity through share tables

⎻ Saving money through from waste minimization

⎻ Connecting schools to communities through food donation

• Data collection is key to informing and tracking changes.

⎻ Also a way to integrate sustainability into the classroom

Conclusions

• This session provides one (1) CEU

⎻ Key Area 3: Administration - 3250

⎻ Key Topic: Measuring waste to increase school sustainability

and address food insecurity

Professional Standards Code

CONTINUING

EDUCATION

CREDITS

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