Food Waste Diversion at Large Venues

Recipe for Success

CIWMB WorkshopDecember 8, 2004

Presented by EcoNomics Inc.

How Much Food Is Diverted? Food is diverted from three areas: The Kitchen

Amount diverted is 90%+ The Suites

Amount diverted is 60%+ The Food Court

Tent food preparation diverted is 70%+ Post Consumer food court is <25%

Total amount of food diverted in tons - 10.58 tons

How Long to Get Program in Place? Program was Gradually Introduced Began with Containers and Cardboard in

2000 Food Scraps in Kitchen Only - Late 2000 Expanded Food to Suites and Food Court

- 2001 Introduce Biodegradable Plastics in 2004

Challenges and Solutions Fear of disruption of stadium operations

Discussion with management well before the event and an agreement that management can discontinue program at any time.

Fitting program into existing conditions Thorough understanding of operations, workflow, and

communication Training and impacts on staffing

Job duties must be smoothly integrated into existing work Coordination of multiple vendor operations (i.e. housekeeping,

catering, food preparation, etc.) Meet with all line management (janitorial, chefs, transportation,

security) on their time schedule. Be available 7/24 to troubleshoot, answer questions, assist however needed.

Training Train/educate all vendors Monitor housekeeping, identify best and

get two or three designated as recycling team

Color code training materials Monitor, retrain, monitor, retrain, etc.

Costs

An additional $780 in labor cost

A reduction in hauling and tip fee cost of $13,800

A net cost reduction of $13,020

Carrots to Involve Venues

Tighter control of disposal costs

Positive Public Impression

Possible development of Environmental Sponsorship Concept

*NOTE: Do not try any coercion - remember these folks deal with major players in both the literal and figurative sense

The Future

Biodegradable Plastics

Can provide 90%+ Reduction in Disposal Costs

Significant Sponsorship Opportunities

System-wide Impact