Sustainability seems to be top of mind for many consumers and business owners alike, yet better managing food waste is not something they often consider. Jim Ottmer, national sales manager for Salvajor, discusses the role managing food waste can play in helping a foodservice operation lessen its impact on the environment.
Jim OttmerQ: Describe how managing food waste can help support a foodservice operation’s green goals.
A: The global impact of food waste is significant. Each year we put 35 million tons of food waste into landfills, and that translates into plenty of greenhouse gas emissions, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. This is from the waste itself as well as having to haul the waste away from the foodservice operations and to landfills or other processing facilities. Taking food waste from one state to another is not greenhouse gas neutral. When looking at the impact of managing food waste, you also have to consider transporting the waste, storing it and more. That’s why some of the municipalities that banned garbage disposers have reversed those bans.
Q: What’s the best way to raise awareness among foodservice operators and consumers to get them on board with better management of their food waste?
A: There’s a lot of data available today to show how practical and impractical the methods we have for managing food waste are. Start the education process with data and encourage people to think differently about managing food waste. For example, everyone talks about farm to table, but rarely do they talk table to farm. In some rural communities, for example, food waste can go back to the farm, suitable for feeding livestock. In Las Vegas, there are casinos that sell their food waste back to farms. Composting is another area where managing food waste can have a bigger, more positive impact on environmental issues. In other cases, it’s simply the matter of using the technology that’s available to you. On a recent project, we took a day’s worth of food waste, which was about 460 pounds, and ran it through a collector. These efforts led to a 53% reduction in food waste weight by washing away the soluble portion of it. That reduced the amount of food waste the hauler needed to pick up. That can lead to fewer visits from the hauler, which potentially lowers operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions. That’s real dollars and real positive.
Q: In what ways can better managing food waste help operators deal with other pressing issues such as labor?
A: When you talk to a foodservice designer, they will always tell you how important managing steps are. The fact is a lot of steps go into taking food waste from a kitchen to a dumpster or another area for storage or processing. So simply saving steps helps an operator save on labor. And by reducing the amount of time staff have to work with trash, you can help create a better work environment.
Q: Your company has been around for 80 years supporting food waste efforts. What’s the secret to such longevity?
A: It’s about educating operators and designers on the true costs of food waste. The sustainability side is the sizzle, but being able to sit down with them and show them true numbers in terms of the dollars saved and more, that’s the steak. Things like scrapping with two hands will make you more effective, faster and efficient and makes you get the most from your labor. It’s really easy to show the benefit of that.
