Foodscraps Recovery and Composting Program

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Foodscraps Recovery and Composting Program

• City of Santa Barbara
• Environmental Services Division

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Why is Foodscraps Composting Important?

• Largest single item in the trash
• Easy to separate

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How the Program Works

• Foodscraps collected at prep and dishwashing
  stations
• Indoor foodscrap containers emptied into carts or
  dumpsters
• Foodscraps hauled to commercial facility
• Finished compost is sold as a valuable
  soil amendment

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What Goes in the Yellow Bin?

• Any food item including grains, fruit
  vegetables, meat, bones
• Plate scrapings including napkins and paper
  products
• Waxed cardboard boxes, milk cartons
• Compostable tableware

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Other Cities that Compost

• Santa Monica
• Seattle
• San Francisco
• Berkeley
• Oakland
• In California 3,000 businesses and 2 million
  residents participate in municipal foodscrap
  composting programs.

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Whos Composting in SB?

• 2 Coffee Shops
• 3 Restaurants
• Cottage Hospital
• SBCC
• Santa Barbara Zoo
• City Facilities
• 2 Produce Distributors
• 2 Elementary Schools
• Foodscraps will compost in the landfill anyway
• Composting is more expensive than disposal

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Composting Setup
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Program ParticipantDonna Mudge,
OwnerSojourner Restaurant Cafe
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Composting Myths
False

• Foodscraps break down in the landfill anyway

• Landfills generate Methane, Carbon Dioxide,
  Nitrous Oxide, Volatile Organic Compounds, and
  other dangerous gases for human health and the
  environment.

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Composting Myths
False

• Trucking foodscraps to compost will generate more
  greenhouse gases than burying them in a landfill

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Composting Myths

• Landfills are the largest man-made source of
  methane
• Methane is 72 times more potent than CO2 as
  greenhouse gas
• Composting food produces no methane

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Composting Myths

• You could truck Foodscraps to be composted in
  Chile and still come out ahead.
• -- Sally Brown PhD
• EPA Senior Scientist

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Composting Myths
False

• Composting is more expensive than disposal

Village Modern Foods Catering Trash Cost with
Low Recycling 3,102 Trash Cost at
High Recycling Compost 1,226 Cost of
Compostable Bags 489 Savings 738
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Composting Myths
Downtown Restaurant Trash Cost with Low
Recycling 7,607 Trash Cost at High Recycling
Compost 2,880 Cost of Compostable Bags
978 Savings 3,747
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Composting Myths
False

• The County Health Department will deny my permit

• Food is already in the trash
• Subject to same health regulations as trash
• Program working well at Cottage Hospital
• City staff working with County EHS

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Turning a Liability into an Asset

• Food Production
• Schools
• Parks

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How to Start Composting at Your Business

• A Composting Specialist will
• Calculate your cost savings
• Figure out how much capacity you need
• Show you where to place the containers
• Train your staff (se habla español)
• Call Environmental Services at 564-5631

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Questions Feedback?