Waste Not! A food waste assessment project for High Country

food service businesses

Final Report for 2017 RIEEE CONCERT program

Hei-Young Kim, Kevin Gamble, Grace Plummer

Introduction The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of current food waste disposal practices at local-area (Boone and Blowing Rock) food-service businesses. Up to 40% of all food is wasted in the US, and many cities and towns have begun implementing food waste disposal bans, as well as organic waste collection services in an effort to curb wasted food. The collaborators of this project believe that it is time the town of Boone/Watauga County implemented an organic waste collection service, and the first step in that process is information gathering. Overview This study was split into four phases:

1. Background research and making contacts 2. Waste Expo 2017 attendance in New Orleans 3. Survey development and distribution 4. Survey response analysis

Background research and making contacts This initial phase began before the project was funded, but continued throughout the first month. The goal was to gain a better understanding of food waste disposal practices nationwide, explore successful projects, and to begin making contacts here in Watauga County with individuals and organizations which may prove helpful in implementing a town or county-wide organic waste collection service. This included: Boone Chamber of Commerce, Boone Independent Restaurants, community members who have worked on similar research projects in the past, as well as local/regional food pantries. We also collected basic information on local food businesses such as: address, phone number, contact person, and email address from the websites of Boone Chamber of Commerce, Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, Watauga Economic Development, and Facebook. Waste expo 2017, New Orleans The Waste Expo 2017 was held in New Orleans from May 8 to 13, 2017. Grace Plummer and Hei-Young Kim from the Appalachian Energy Center attended the food recovery forum of Waste Expo to see if there were any food waste programs for small, rural counties like Watauga, and to learn how to successfully initiate such a program. Presentations at the Food Recovery Forum focused on successful initiatives and model programs that have reduced wasted food and increased recovery, reuse, and other environmentally beneficial options available. Speakers were from all different sectors including leaders of public, charitable, academic and private organizations. It introduced many current efforts to reduce food waste around the country, but not much technical data and knowledge. However, some of the presentations did include small-scale programs that could guide us for further plan of our project (listed below). We learned that successful food waste collection and recycling programs have adequate preparation process, analysis, and collaboration with local businesses. We could also see many local economic benefits such as green marketing and job creation as well as entrepreneurship opportunities in Watauga County. Even though there are not many small-scale programs or case studies for small towns, many presenters stated that smaller programs would bring more benefits and would be easier to carry on.

(1) Food Scrap Recovery in Northern Michigan: Commercial Collection Case Study.

Elisa Seltzer, Emmet County (MI), Department of Public Works. Emmet County is located in the state of Michigan and the population is about 33,000. The County Recycling (ECR) conducted food scrap collection pilot project with 20 local businesses (local restaurants and flower shops) from June to October, 2015 to get experience collecting and composting food “waste” with an eye to developing full commercial and residential food waste collection services in the future. The participants set their food and floral scraps out for curbside collection twice a week. Waste carts were mechanically tipped into a collection truck, rinsed, and returned. They worked with the participants to determine collection day. Participants were provided with a sign, so customers knew they were part of the pilot program. Overall, the program collected 90,000 gallons of food and floral scraps for composting over 20 weeks. The pilot program was a success and their commercial food scrap collection is now an ongoing program. The compost produced is sold to the public after a quality test conducted by Michigan State University.

(2) Horry County Schools Food Waste Separation and Collection Program. Greg Sponseller, Sustainability Analyst, Horry County Schools (SC).

Horry County School (HCS) started a food waste collection program in 2015. The average food waste collected for composting is 400 pounds a day. It is important that a program is well prepared and education and training should be offered to teachers and school staff before it starts, to ensure program success. HCS contracted with Smart Recycling to implement the program. Smart Recycling provides their recycling container which has casters, a locking lid, and a wax coating inside. Since food waste collection was initiated, waste pickups have been cut in half both in number and frequency, decreasing expenses for the services. Education, as well as economic benefits, is a big part of the program. As part of the program, students get survey that asks how much they know about recycling and composting. The survey is taken before and after participation. The previous survey results indicated that the students gained better idea and practice about recycling after they participated. Students separate recycle materials and food waste and dump them into separate bins. Also there are small landfill trash buckets sitting on the table, so the students can separate their trash at the table. All signage and posters for each school are made by its students as a school project. HCS developed and provides Elementary Composting Tool Kit on their website.

(3) Jobs Created and Sustained through Composting Organics. Brenda Platt, Director, Composting for Community Project, ILSR

ILSR found out that expanding composting and local compost use could support almost 1,400 new full-time jobs in Maryland. Full time jobs created by building a facility are 4 jobs, 1 job, and 2 jobs per 10,000 tons per year (tpy) for composting, incineration, and landfill respectively. Composting facilities support twice as many jobs as landfills and 17 more jobs than incinerators for every $10 million invested. ILSR also found that smaller composting facilities create more job positions. Small-scale facilities employ 14 jobs for every 10,000 tpy processed while medium sized employ 6 jobs and large sized employ 3 jobs. In addition to job creation at composting sites (such as skilled equipment operators for windrow turners, front-end loaders, grinders, and screeners), further jobs are supported in the use of compost such as erosion control, storm water management, and green infrastructure. It is reported that 6 jobs for every 10,000 tpy are created in the use of compost.

Survey development and distribution Between the months of April and May, we developed a survey and information packet to be mailed to 156 food service businesses in Boone and Blowing Rock, including: restaurants, fast food restaurants, breweries/pubs, caterers, and grocery stores. The information packet included an introduction letter, an informational flyer on food waste, and a paper copy of our survey. Copies of each can be found in Appendix A. In order to encourage the businesses to respond our survey, we offered a chance to win one of two $50 visa gift cards, which were randomly drawn from the pool of responses. The survey was developed based on research findings and from examples of surveys other study groups have used in similar projects. The survey consisted of 15 questions, with one survey for food service businesses and another one for grocery stores, as their needs/practices differ. The goal was to develop a survey short enough that we would receive a response, but detailed enough to provide us with useful data. A paper copy was supplied with each letter, but we also provided a link in our packet to our website, where respondents could opt to complete an electronic version using Qualtrics. In addition to the survey, an introductory letter and an informational flyer were developed in order to provide our respondents with details of our project, and information on the problems (and financial opportunities) associated with wasted food at food service businesses. Due to the limited number of grocery stores in the area, these sites were visited in person by Kevin Gamble and Hei-Young Kim. On these visits the project was described to the proper managers and each was given a copy of our survey/information packet. During this time, we also asked basic questions regarding food waste disposal practices at each store, in case we were to receive no survey response. During this phase we also set-up both a web page (rieee.appstate.edu/WasteNot) and a Facebook page (Waste Not: A Food Recovery Project For the High Country) to better advertise our project and to serve as a an educational/informational source for the public on both the project itself, as well as the issues associated with wasted food. Survey response analysis Surveys were originally distributed in the first week of June, and we received our first responses within five days. After two weeks, we e-mailed the businesses who received our letter as a reminder about our project, quick reminder messages were also sent to business Facebook pages. As previously mentioned, grocery stores were visited in person. Between mid-July and the start of the Fall semester, response data was analyzed. Results We received completed surveys from 15 respondents, for a response rate of 9.6%. Response rates were roughly equivalent for both the paper and electronic submissions. We also received twenty five returned envelopes that never reached the businesses, due to a combination of closures, outdated contact information, and lack of mail receptacles on-site. Unfortunately, only one of the grocery stores provided us with a completed survey response. The 15 respondents included (note-respondents checked all that apply): Full-service restaurant 11 Quick-service restaurant 1

Catering 3

Cafeterias/buffets 1 Brewery/alcoholic beverages 3 Supermarket 1 There was some variation in the business hours/seasonality of the businesses. Some

were open morning-night, others were only open for dinner/late night service. Some businesses kept roughly the same hours no matter the season, while others tended to shorten hours during the winter months. This will need to be taken under account in any organic waste collection plan in the future.

Currently, ~87% of our respondents have their landfill waste collected by Republic. The remaining 13% have their waste collected by the county, or the Town of Blowing Rock. All but one (93%) of our respondents are currently doing some form of recycling (glass, metals, papers, plastics, etc.). 40% of our respondents currently recycle used cooking oil. In regards to food waste, only 33% of our respondents currently practice any kind of source separation for food waste. Of the wasted food that is produced on-site at those restaurants who do currently separate their organic waste from landfill waste, it generally goes to two places: edible food is given to employees, or donated to the Hospitality House and/or Hunger Health Coalition, and inedible wastes are donated to local farmers as animal feed. One of our respondents noted doing small-scale composting on their property with leafy greens. When asked about their willingness to recycle non-organic wastes, 100% of respondents answered “Glad to do it.” However, when asked about their willingness to recycle their organic wastes, the responses were more varied: Glad to do it 46.7% Willing to do it 6.7% No opinion 20% Don’t want to do it 6.7% Won’t do it 20% When asked further about the reasons that factored into their responses, there was a fair amount of agreement. *Note for this question, respondents could choose all options which they felt applied.* Would like to do more 7 (18.4%) Difficult to carry out 7 (18.4%) Not enough collection options 7 (18.4%) Time consuming 5 (13.6%) Employee training (time commitment) 4 (10.5%) Laws/Regulatory Issues 4 (10.5%) No donation contacts 1 (2.6%) Financial costs 1 (2.6%) Non-applicable 1 (2.6%) Other 1 (2.6%) Some of the most important feedback that we received that will be essential in successfully implementing an organic waste collection service for the High Country came from our final questions. Here we asked respondents to provide their own ideas for ways to reduce wasted food (question #13), and to describe the types of barriers that they have already experienced, or anticipate experiencing in separating their organic waste from landfill

waste (question #15). It was here that we gained valuable insight into the kinds of problems food service business owners face in implementing a successful food waste recovery program. Of the nine responses to Question #13, 44% note that having a third party organic waste collector would be most beneficial in streamlining the process, similar to how their landfilled waste is currently collected. Another issue that was noted in Question #13 is confusion on regulatory issues. Laws surrounding the donation of edible wasted food to food pantries/charities are not always clear. Two respondents were very vocal in their desire to donate more wasted food to charity, but felt that the Health Department needed to be more transparent in their regulations, and needed to properly communicate these regulations to business owners. “The lack of a clear regulatory structure surrounding consumable food donations prevents us from donating more consumable food. For example, would we could [sic] be required to get HAACP certs to donate frozen ground beef to hunger coalition? How would ready to eat donations need to be handled, and how many days could they be collected and held at the restaurant before donation? Could we donate day-old baked potatoes suitable for frying? Is it permitted to donate expired but edible food? If so, how would expired food need to be marked while being stored at the restaurant prior to donation? Get the health dept to announce very clear guidlines [sic] for donating ready to eat and raw foods and we would donate more food.”

Question #14 addressed some of the motivations behind business owner’s willingness to implement a food waste separation program. *Note for this question, respondents could choose all options which they felt applied.*

Environmental 13 (31.7%) Personal/business philosophy 11 (26.8%) Economic 7 (17.1%) Charity 5 (12.2%) Regulatory 2 (4.9%) Publicity 1 (2.4%) Other: 2 (4.9%) - “common sense” & “scares me!”

Based on this feedback, it’s clear that environmental concerns and personal/business

philosophy are both driving motivations. In addition, ~47% of respondents indicate economics as also being an important factor. Using this information, we will be able to better tailor our message during future workshops, and hopefully encourage further participation through possible incentives like a green business certification, or sustainable/zero food waste sticker to advertise/showcase their business practices.

Question #15 highlighted some of the difficulties business owners currently face, or anticipate facing in implementing a wasted food recovery program. These difficulties included: ● Time commitment in properly training employees on source separation procedures,

and the likelihood of even more micromanagement in a business already inundated with it.

● Consistency in collection, and the need for a centralized, third-party system akin to current landfill waste collection.

● Lack of clear procedures from the Health Department and a fear that source separation will lead to point deductions on health inspections.

● Space issues, particularly for smaller downtown businesses, in terms of storage containers for separating food scraps both inside and outside the establishment.

Finally, we asked respondents if they would be willing to participate further in this project in the future, specifically participation in a focus group/educational workshop on source separation and the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge (FRC), and possibly a pilot study experimenting with source separation at one of these businesses. Of our respondents, 60% indicated that they were interested in participating further, many enthusiastically so: “Good luck with this study/venture. I greatly appreciate your efforts. You’re making sense of an industry that often makes waste due to haste. Maybe, hopefully, what comes of this is a more prudent and logical system that actually improves our profit margins. Thanks!” “Been doing this at this level for the past 7 years, love to participate, we look at all of this even carbon footprint on food, products & to-go supplies. We are green.”

“Good Luck! It would be a great benefit for the community! And the environment!”

Even though we did not get many survey responses from groceries, we do know some information about their current practices on food waste through our conversations with management during our on-site visit. Four groceries indicated they do food donation to local/regional charities, including: Hospitality House, Hunger Health Coalition, and MANNA Food Bank. Three of groceries indicated that they have inedible food waste picked up for composting by either a commercial entity or local farmers.

Conclusion Based on the feedback we received, there is a clear interest in an organic waste collection service for the High Country. While we had hoped for a higher response rate, the responses that we did receive were valuable in terms of the insights provided. There will be some issues that need to be addressed/overcome such as limited site availability of food waste collection and absence of a local central food waste diversion system, but the willingness of food service businesses to participate is present. We can also confirm that several individual efforts and their demand for a county wide initiative/program have and presently exist. Those responses and interests will be essential resources for our next stage of food waste research, pilot study.

As we planned at the beginning of this research, a pilot study with the several local businesses will be our next stage that aims (1) to conduct in-depth survey (interview), (2) to measure and track food waste generation, (3) to figure out any changes of staff’s perspective on food waste separation, (4) to develop the optimal practice to collect commercial food waste in this area, and (5) to identify potential recovery uses such as food donation and animal feed.

In order to move toward for the next stage, we will apply for internal and external grant opportunities and contact Emmet County in Michigan which successfully completed commercial food waste pilot study recently and currently have an on-going county-wide commercial food waste collection and composting program.

Appendix A

Greetings! We are a group of researchers at Appalachian State University working together on a small grant-funded project studying food waste and recovery practices for food service businesses in the High Country. We are looking to work with local businesses (including restaurants, groceries, and hotels) as well as with public officials, human service agencies, farmers, and residents, in order to develop a regional food loss and waste management program appropriate for our community. We see the potential for a program like this to relieve hunger and contribute to the viability of local agriculture via inexpensive animal feed or high-quality compost. We also anticipate benefits to local businesses looking to attract and build a loyal customer base, especially through sustainable business practices, and to reduce the loss of cost of goods sold. We are contacting you today to invite you to be a part of this research project. If you agree to be a part of this study, we are asking you to complete a short, preliminary survey regarding food waste, disposal, and recovery practices at your business. With your help in completing this brief survey, we can begin building a database of food waste and recovery practices in the High Country, with the ultimate goal of using this data to help initiate a food waste diversion program for the area. Completion of our survey will enter you in a chance to win one of two $50 Visa gift cards. Included in this mailing:

- One page information sheet about food waste in the US and Watauga County - Survey - If you prefer to take the survey online, please follow the link on our

program webpage: http://rieee.appstate.edu/WasteNot - Return envelope with postage

Who we are: Kevin Gamble - Lecturer, Department of Sustainable Technology & The Built Environment Hei-Young Kim - Research Assistant, Appalachian Energy Center Grace Plummer - Program Specialist, Appalachian Energy Center If you have any further questions, or would like to know more about our project, please contact us at: WasteNot@appstate.edu

or visit our website: http://rieee.appstate.edu/WasteNot - Waste Not: A Food Recovery Project for the High Country Thank you for your time. We look forward to hearing from you! Kevin Gamble Waste Not Team

Consumer-facing businesses, such as restaurants and grocery stores, can significantly reduce food waste in the US. A recent report from ReFED highlights feasible solutions for those businesses to cut food waste by 20% within a decade. ReFED estimates the following impacts:

BUSINESS PROFIT POTENTIAL: $1.6 billion can be achieved annually by Restaurants and Foodservice facilities, the largest profit opportunity among $1.9 billion of total business profit potential.

Nearly 18 million tons of GHG emissions may be reduced annually by avoiding agricultural and livestock impacts and reducing methane emissions from scraps disposed in landfills.

MEALS: 1.8 billion meals can be recovered annually.

WATER: 1.6 trillion gallons of water annually may be able to be conserved-1.5% of annual US freshwater withdrawals-primarily through the prevention of large amounts of water needed for agriculture.

JOBS: 15,000 jobs can be created primarily through processing and applying compost.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS INCLUDE:

FOOD WASTE IN THE US EVERY YEAR: 63 MILLION TONS*

Food Waste Info-sheet – US and Watauga County

Watauga County transported 39,738 tons of solid waste to the Foothills Landfill in Lenoir, NC in 2010/11 and usually 21% of this is food waste. Therefore, Watauga County wastes

enough food to feed 8,000 people per year, or 8,345 tons! Not all of this is suitable for human consumption, but the potential impact is significant.

CONSUMER-FACING BUSINESS FOOD WASTE ASSESSMENT The purpose of this project is to understand better the types of food waste generated

by local businesses, including food recovered and donated for human consumption. Responses to the following survey will be used to research the feasibility of a food recovery and food waste prevention program in the High Country. We foresee no risks to participants, and your participation in this study is completely voluntary. Even if you decide to participate now, you may change your mind and stop at any time. You may also choose not to answer any survey question for any reason. We will randomly select two survey respondents as winners of a $50 Visa gift card that will be mailed to the address provided in the survey. Appalachian State University’s Institutional Review Board has determined this study to be exempt from IRB oversight. If you have questions about this project or the survey process, please contact Grace Plummer at plummergj@appstate.edu.

1. Contact Information (information used for reward) a. Business Name: b. Contact Name: c. Title: d. Address: e. Phone: f. Email: g. Prefered contact (phone/email/mail):

2. Business type: (check all that apply)

a. Full service restaurant ( ) b. Quick service restaurant ( ) c. Non-alcoholic Beverage & snack ( ) d. Catering ( ) e. Cafeterias, Buffets ( ) f. Brewery & Alcoholic Beverage ( ) g. Food truck ( ) h. Supermarket ( ) i. Department store ( )

3. Number of Employees:

a. Peak/Maximum: b. Off-peak/Minimum:

4. Business hours:

a. Standard: b. Do business hours vary seasonally? If so, please briefly describe below.

5. Approximately what % of your total sales are take-out or drive-through orders?

6. Current waste collection for your business: a. How often is your waste collected?

b. Who/What vendor(s) collect your waste?

c. How are you charged for your waste collection? (# collections, subscription, by weight, etc.)

7. At your business, are you currently doing any waste recycling? a. Yes ( ) No ( )

b. If yes, what type of materials do you recycle? (check all that apply.)

i. Metals ( )

ii. Glass ( ) iii. Plastics ( ) iv. Paper ( ) v. Cardboard ( )

vi. Food ( ) vii. Other:

8. What are your feelings on the following following waste management practices at

your business?

Recycling Food Waste Separation a. Glad to do it ( ) ( ) b. Willing to do it ( ) ( ) c. No opinion ( ) ( ) d. Don’t want to do it ( ) ( ) e. Won’t do it ( ) ( )

Any additional opinions/comments:

9. Which of the following statements factor into your responses regarding recycling and food waste recovery at your restaurant? (check all that apply for each.)

Recycling Food Waste a. Would like to do more ( ) ( ) b. Difficult to carry out ( ) ( ) c. Time consuming ( ) ( ) d. Not enough collection options ( ) ( ) e. Training employees (time commitment) ( ) ( ) f. Laws/Regulatory issues ( ) ( ) g. Non-applicable ( ) ( ) h. No donation contacts ( ) ( ) i. Financial costs ( ) ( ) j. Other? Please specify below: ( ) ( )

Other:

10. The following table asks what your current disposal methods are for various types of food wastes that might be generated at your business. Please indicate (where applicable) how each form of waste is currently disposed of at your business. Each type of waste is designated by a letter, defined below.

a. Kitchen - Meal Prep Scraps b. Kitchen - Spoiled Food c. Kitchen - Expired, but edible (greens, fruit, breads, etc.) d. Kitchen - Expired, but edible (meat & dairy) e. Kitchen - Expired, but edible (non-perishables) f. Kitchen - Prepared, but unserved, dishes g. Kitchen - Used cooking oil h. Plate scraps (front-of-house/customers)

a b c d e f g h Collection Company/Donation Recipient

Feeding People (donations)

Animal Feed

Composting

Landfill

Other: .

11. If your business currently donates some or all of its food waste, where does this waste go? What companies/organizations/individuals are working with your business? (for individuals just state: friends, family, employees, etc.)

Feeding People:

Animal Feed:

Composting:

Waste Cooking Oil:

12. What ideas do you have to reduce wasted food (suitable for human consumption/donation) and food waste (scraps, non-edible waste) at your business?

13. What motivations would/did you have to implement a food waste separation program at your business? (check all that apply.)

a. Environmental ( ) b. Economic ( ) c. Charity ( ) d. Publicity ( ) e. Personal/Business Philosophy ( ) f. Regulatory ( ) g. Other: ( )

Other:

14. What kind of barriers do you anticipate (or have already experienced) in initiating and operating a food waste separation program at your business?

We are planning a second phase of this project, wherein we hope to work closely with a handful of businesses, including performing a food waste audit of, a trial food waste separation/collection, waste tracking & analytics1, in-depth interview, and a free educational workshop on food saving and waste recovery strategies that will be open to local food service businesses. If you would be interested in participating in the second phase, please indicate below: I/my business is interested in participating further in this project: ( ) Thank you for your time in completing this survey! Additional comments (please write below, and feel free to e-mail us at: WasteNot@appstate.edu):

1*AccordingtoastudyconductedbyReFED(RethinkFoodWastethroughEconomicsandData),$1.9BofannualbusinessprofitpotentialisestimatediffoodwasterecoveryprogramisimplementedintheUS.Restaurantsandfoodservicefacilitiescanachievethelargestprofitopportunity($1.6Bannually).ThemajorityofthisprofitcomesfromimprovedWasteTracking&Analytics.Formoreinformation,pleasefindtheirsummaryreportonourwebsite:rieee.appstate.edu/wastenot