Collection FAQs (click on question to see answer)
Does Organic Recovery Development (Organic Recovery or OR) have a measurement tool to compare costs municipal landfill -vs- OR Process?
There are too many variables to develop a general measurement tool to compare the costs of landfilling food residuals versus the costs of diverting the food residuals to OR’s process. Each municipality or business must perform the review that is specific to their case. OR can assist in performing this review.
Some of the costs that must be considered include:
- Current costs of placing the residuals in the outside garbage disposal container (requires extra handling and movement of the materials through the facility and outdoors. May require extra “packaging” like garbage bags or can liners to avoid spillage of liquids from putrescing garbage)
- Cost of “hauling” or movement of the garbage from the facility to the landfill. (Generally landfills are further away from the generator’s facility)
- Cost of the landfill “tip” fee or cost of disposing of the garbage at the landfill.
Other ‘soft’ costs should be considered:
- Reduced/elimination of compactor cleaning
- Reduced wear/replacement of the garbage compactor
- Reduced odor and pest control costs
- Elimination of liquid spillage from compactors into the municipal sanitary sewer system (if compactor is connected to it); or spillage into stormwater drainage system
- Elimination of industrial discharge surcharges (from the liquid entering the sewer system)
Typically, OR can offer its customers savings in disposal costs due to the savings OR generates in transportation and disposal costs.
How much food is processed per day? Is this a 24 hr operation?
Organic Recovery’s facilities are sized to meet the needs of the municipality or community. The facilities can be as small as a 40 ton per day facility – which means that they can process about 40 tons per day of incoming food residuals per one eight hour day shift, or as large as several hundred tons per day with two to three shifts per day.
How does this compete with current recycling processes already
in place at supermarkets?
Supermarkets that recycle their organics typically divert the organics (including the food residuals) to composting programs in place in their municipalities. The organics are either placed in wax cardboard boxes and shipped back to a centralized distribution center, or placed in dedicated containers that are picked up separately from the regular garbage containers.
Both systems allow the organics to start decomposing, so liquids from the putrescing materials, bad odors, and pest attractants are a concern. There are potential safety and health hazards that must be dealt with as part of these systems.
OR provides specially designed air-tight collection containers to keep the food residuals fresh, and collects them frequently during the week. This avoids the problems associated with putrescing food residuals. The nutrients from the residuals are captured during enzymatic digestion, yielding valuable soil amendment product.
How does OR manage quality control issues?
OR has strict technical specifications for the collection of food residuals, and for the quality of food residuals that are brought to their facilities. This is in order to assure that the residuals are kept fresh and uncontaminated so that the resulting soil amendment product is suitable for agricultural customers.
OR has Quality Control and Quality Assurance programs in place designed to make OR a consistent, reliable supplier to its customers
Are the refrigerated storage containers cost-effective?
Cost-effective is a relative term. OR’s containers cost more to manufacture than conventional plastic recycling containers. However, considering the impact to the environment of OR’s commitment to diversion and recycling, the containers do an effective job of containing and preserving food residuals. OR’s process is the most effective method of extracting and returning the nutrients contained in the food residuals to the earth.
Who actually will handle the food residuals, clean up and maintenance of the storage containers?
OR provides training for its customers (including posters and stickers) so their employees can properly place the uncontaminated food residuals in the appropriate containers. OR’s team is responsible for moving the filled containers from the storage location to their refrigerated truck, and for any cleanup that may be needed along the way.
OR takes the filled containers to their facility in refrigerated trucks, empties the containers, then washes and sanitizes the collection containers before returning them to the customer’s facility.
Can the quantities of materials picked up from each client’s location be reported to the client?
The information is confidential, and is only released to the client upon specific request. Each collection container contains an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) that identifies the type of container and is coded to identify the source of the food residuals. The information is collected and reported in terms of overall quantities picked up each month from the client’s location, although if requested by the client, the information can be broken into more detailed reports by department within the location.
