PARTNERSHIPS ACCELERATE ORGANICS COLLECTION

In Business, November-December, Vol. 29, No. 6, p. 14

Massachusetts town sets a route to reduce hauler service fees, identify generators and develop collection efficiencies.

Molly Farrell Tucker

OFFICIALS in Cambridge, Massachusetts are working with a Boston hauler - Save That Stuff, Inc. - to collect food scraps, food-soiled paper, yard trimmings and floral clippings from businesses and institutions, then take the feedstocks to a regional farm for composting. The idea was developed by Randi Mail, Recycling Director for the Cambridge Public Works Department, and Adam Mitchell, a partner in Save That Stuff.
“Adam and I had been trying to figure out how to begin collecting food scraps from schools for composting,” says Mail. “The schools were not large enough generators to justify a hauler servicing just them.” Adds Mitchell: “We wanted to add the organics service for a while. A lot of restaurants are our clients for recycling, and it was natural to add food waste for those customers. But we were reluctant to make an investment in a collection vehicle without an adequate market in order to build a critical mass of clients.”
Founded in 1990, Save That Stuff originally focused on collecting corrugated cardboard - then expanded to collecting commingled bottles and cans, mixed paper, newspaper, scrap metal, electronics and organics, now serving more than 1,500 customers in Greater Boston. The firm has served as the Cambridge hauler for small to medium-sized businesses for three years and has had the contract to collect cardboard from Cambridge schools and city buildings for five years.
Last year, Cambridge was awarded a $35,000 Technical Assistance Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) to work with Save That Stuff to offer organics collection to businesses and institutions. The bid was awarded to John Connolly and Associates, a management consulting firm based in Hampton, New Hampshire that specializes in diversion of organic wastes to composting.
They identified 108 high generators including universities, supermarkets, hotels, laboratories and industrial food processors. Another 117 were identified as medium generators, including cafeterias, assisted living facilities, corporations, large restaurants and hospitals. The 520 low generators included bars, florists, coffee shops and schools.

PURCHASING CARTS AND A TRUCK
Save That Stuff purchased over 300 68-gallon Otto carts to distribute to its new organics customers at a cost of $16,774. “Most of the trash containers the businesses use are 95 gallons, so having a 68 gallon container for compost was helpful to differentiate the organics,” says Mitchell. The company designed a three-color label that is stamped onto the cart's lid to distinguish it further from trash containers. The label includes the words “Compost Only” and has a picture of produce. Carts are rented to customers for $3/month each.
The biggest expense in launching the program was purchase of a new, 25-yard McNeilus packer truck for $210,000 to collect the organics. The truck has an on-board scale to weigh each customer's carts. The company considered buying a rendering truck or front loader, but decided on the packer.
Approximately $5,000 of the MADEP grant funds were used to design and produce publicity materials, including brochures for businesses, bilingual posters for training (in English and Spanish), posters for tabling events, decals for the sides of the new packer truck and a hot stamp for the collection carts. Save That Stuff contributes additional funds to design and print the leave-behind brochures.
Rocky Hill Farm in Saugus, Massachusetts was selected by Save That Stuff, Inc. as the compost facility. “We had a preexisting relationship with them, bringing in compactor loads of organics from supermarkets,” explains Mitchell. The farm is located 10 miles north of Boston and about 20 minutes from Save That Stuff's offices. It has been composting food residuals since the 1980s and 16 of the farm's 40 acres are permitted for composting. The farm also composts leaves, grass, brush and stumps in addition to food residuals.

RUNNING THE ROUTE
Collection began in September 2006. Save That Stuff set its fee at $100/ton with a 400-pound minimum, or $20/pickup. Organics carts at larger generators are serviced five to six days a week, and from smaller restaurants and coffee shops at least once a week.
All types of food scraps can be put in the organics carts, including kitchen trimmings, plate scrapings, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, cooked meat, bones, fish, dairy products and baked goods. Food-soiled papers including paper cups and plates, placemats and milk cartons also are accepted, as well as waxed cardboard boxes, sawdust, yard trimmings and floral clippings.
Save That Stuff's driver starts collecting organics at 5 a.m. along a 100-mile route. Customers put out the organics carts for collection in the same area where they place their trash containers. Save That Stuff provides early morning service or call-ahead service for customers who place the carts at the curb, in order to minimize curbside setout time.
On hot summer days, the packer truck makes more runs to the compost facility. “The material turns to liquid more rapidly, which means we have to get it to the compost facility more quickly, so we collect the food waste in three loads instead of one,” says Mitchell.
An average of 12 tons is collected each day, six days a week. The daily tonnage ranges from 9 to 18 tons/day depending on the day. “Collecting 20 tons/day is our goal,” he notes. By mid-June 2007, more than 1,600 tons of food residuals had been collected since the program started in September 2006.
Currently, Save That Stuff has 27 organics customers in Cambridge and 20 in nearby Boston and Newton, Massachusetts. “It's a nice mixture of restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, universities, coffee shops, landscape businesses, flower shops, laboratories and the Museum of Science,” notes Mail. In addition, Save That Stuff collects organics from parts of the Harvard campus (in Cambridge), including cafeterias at the Harvard Business School, and has a pilot organics collection program at the largest cafeteria on the Boston College campus this summer. “We'll have the staff trained when the students come back in the fall,” notes Mitchell. Save That Stuff is also meeting with the food service director at Boston University and hopes to collect organics from the three largest cafeterias on that campus.

BENEFITS - BOTH EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED
Some of Save That Stuff's organics customers are now saving money on their trash bills by participating in the program. “Separating out food waste removes heavy material from the trash, and doing this will reduce the customer's trash bill if it is based on weight,” explains Mail. “If the trash bill is based on volume or the number of pulls, businesses can reduce the size of their dumpster or reduce the number of pulls.” Some supermarkets that were having their compactors pulled two times a week are now needing them pulled only every two months, says Mitchell.
Mitchell says that customers can save some money if they have a good deal with their trash hauler and up to 20 percent if they don't have a good deal. “We charge by weight for the organics and most customers are charged by the cubic yard for trash removal. They need to talk to their trash company to get their trash rates reduced once the organics are removed.”
Restaurants that previously weren't recycling before signing up for the organics program are now having Save That Stuff collect their recyclables including cardboard, bottles and cans. “We've also been talking with clients about making product substitutions such as switching from plastic coffee stirrers to wooden ones,” he explains. “Our restaurant clients look at what is left in their trash after the organics and recycling are taken away, and it's usually just some plastic film scrap, bathroom trash and Styrofoam.” Getting recycling clients through the organics program helps the company subsidize the organics collection service. “It's brought the concept of zero waste closer to our company and our customers,” says Mitchell.
The organics program has also helped control a real nuisance for restaurants. “Cambridge had been dealing with rodent problems, and composting is one strategy for rodent control,” she adds. “Separating organics and putting them in tighter containers help reduce the source of food for rodents. While promoting the organics program, we are also promoting having restaurants clean up their trash areas.”
Composting organics also is reducing the strain on the city's sewer system. “When restaurants are using garbage disposals and are not cleaning their grease traps properly, the sewer pipes underground can get blocked and eventually need to be excavated,” says Mail. “It's really expensive to have to dig into the street and excavate the clogged pipes, and the City charges the restaurants for the costs. Restaurants will also save on their water bills if they are having their food scraps composted and using their garbage disposals less.”
Mail says the City of Cambridge is investigating anaerobic digestion and the possibilities it could offer for organics collection to residents. It also is considering making participation in the organics program mandatory for large generators. “This will continue to be explored as an option, particularly in anticipation of plans by MADEP to possibly ban food waste from landfills in 2010,” she notes.
The City of Cambridge doesn't have any ongoing costs for the organics program and Mail thinks a similar program could be started elsewhere without grant funding. “Part of our intention was to create a replicable project for other communities and haulers,” she says. “The promotional materials are owned by MADEP, and may be used upon request for communities that want to start an organics collection program. The next community can have a successful project, as long as there is a true partnership between the city and the hauler, which we have with Save That Stuff. The customer knows that composting is the right thing to do and if the hauler commits to reasonable pricing, you're able to tell customers that the cost will be the same or less than they are paying for trash collection.”

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.