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FOOD WASTE FOR COMPOSTING OVERVIEW & BACKGROUND:
Cloudburst offers collection of Food Waste for composting. This service is available to commercial customers, such as restaurants and grocery stores.
We accept both pre-consumer (e.g. trimmings from food prep) and “post-consumer” (e.g. plate scrapings) food waste. We accept vegetative waste, bakery, floral, meat, poultry, fish, and dairy wastes.
Food waste must be contained in compostable plastic or paper bags.
We provide special rollcarts for participants, as well as posters and educational support for your employees.
Cloudburst is a local wholesale distributor of CorTec compostable plastic bags for food waste. We believe these are the most durable bags available. We can provide these bags to our customers at near wholesale prices with free delivery.
History:
Cloudburst began collection and composting of post-consumer food waste in 1975, and operated Portland’s first Metro-Licensed Food Waste compost facility. We collected food waste from households, and composted by hand mixing the food waste with horse manure, and turning it with pitchforks twice a week. Backbreaking work, but the compost was great! Later we “automated”, adapting a cement mixer off an old cement mixer truck. In 1978 we had to give up that facility because we lost our lease when the State of Oregon sold the property where it was located. Since that time we have participated in several “pilot programs”, including a vermiculture (earthworm) composting facility in North Portland. At present, there is no licensed food waste compost facility in the Portland area at present, so all our food waste is shipped to Cedar Grove composting in Everett, Washington.
Why compost?
Food Waste comprises about 17% of all the waste we landfill, about xxx tons per year. The official goal of the City of Portland is to recycle or compost 75% of our waste by the year xxxx. If we are to meet that goal, and indeed If we are to move closer to the goal of ZERO WASTE, we must compost our food waste.
Global Warming and Composting:
Methane gas is released as organic material decomposes in landfills. Often landfills do not effectively capture this methane, and it is released into the atmosphere, where it is a “powerful greenhouse gas” contributing to global warming.
Controlled composting reduces the emission of CO2 and methane. According to Jennifer Erikson, Recycling Specialist for Metro, for every ton of food waste that is composted instead of landfilled, at least a ton of CO2 (equivalent) is prevented from being released into the atmosphere. See Oregonian circa 9/3/09.
In addition, food waste when composted is converted into a valuable, nutrient rich soil amendment, instead of being wasted in a landfill.
75 to 80% of (non-recyclable) restaurant waste compostable.
Cost
In most cases, it will be more expensive to have your food waste collected for composting. Why is this?
a) We pay the compost facility to receive and properly compost your food waste.
b) We will need to send an additional truck and worker to collect your food waste, and of course this costs money too. Sometimes we can eliminate a garbage pickup, if you currently have multiple garbage pickups per week, and that can help to offset the additional food waste collection costs.
c) Our food waste routes are less efficient than our garbage routes because only a small percentage of our customers can or do participate. As a result, we travel longer distances between stops, and go to the transfer station with less than a full load. As more of our customers get on board with the program, our efficiency will improve.
Cloudburst has absorbed most of the extra cost of providing this service, adding up to many thousands of dollars since the inception of the current program in March 2007. This is the price of innovation, and we are glad we have been able to handle this cost. We want you to be able to participate in this important program.
Compostable Utensils/Dishes/Cups/Etc.
Have a question about a specific brand of “bio-degradable” bags, utensils, dishes, etc?
All materials collected as part of the City of Portland’s Commercial Compost Program are sent to the Cedar Grove composting facility. You may contact them at 1-877-SOILS-4U to ask about specific items or visit their website at http://www.cedar-grove.com/