This year the conference went 'zero waste'. Attendees were asked to recycle and/or compost their food waste and other paper materials in bins. A plan was in place to have the "Greenery", the City of San Diego composting facility, pick up the bins for processing and report on our success rate at our field trip to the Greenery.
Pictured below is our food and paper waste for two days. Not much because it does not include pre-consumer waste from the hotel kitchen, nor the shipping cardboard from the displays, unfortunately. The two piles reflect compostable material versus non-compostable. Note the styrofoam container, name badge, wax-coated beverage cups that attendees disposed of in the "compostable bin" at the conference.
The conference diversion rate was 75%.
All this leads me to the question - if 200 people from the recycling industry have a 75% diversion rate, can a state like California succeed in achieving a 75% recycling rate as mandated by AB 939?
Consider this: The city of LA wastes 40,000 tons per day, or 1 ton per person a year. Puente Hills landfill, the largest in the nation, and servicing Socal, closes October 27, 2013.
Do we, as Californians or as a nation have a chance in achieving and succeeding this? Do we as consumers and manufacturers understand what is recyclable? compostable? biodegradable?
In a ten-week tees, the Greenery composted and documented food and paper waste and saw something that was quite surprising...certified biodegradable utensils do not break down. This is a problem.
I am working with the supermarket industry to achieve zero food waste to landfills. Is this realistic?
Watch for next week's blog on Verma-composting from Santa Monica City College!
As always, your comments are most appreciated.
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