Let’s Talk Recycling!

Did you know 40% of food in the United States is wasted? And packaging makes up a significant portion of waste that ends up in the landfill (~30% in 2017)?

At WRR we not only work to reduce food waste but packaging waste as well!
We accept food waste with up to 7% contamination by weight – our depackaging machines work hard to separate the food waste from the packaging. So what happens to all that packaging, you ask? We prepare as much of it as we can for recycling by baling it on site!

Our operators combine source-separated materials such as aluminum, cardboard, shrink wrap and HDPE and PET plastics. They are then load into giant balers and compressed into a manageable bale, or large block. We store these on site to be picked up and recycled!

We also partner with Momentum Recycling to haul all our empty glass bottles to be processed at their plant recycled as well. No waste here!

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-specific-data

https://www.nrdc.org/food-waste

 

We’ve Been Busy!

Semi truck full of expired/off-spec dog food incoming to feed the digester.

So far this year (2020) we have received over 87,000 TONS of food waste! In large part, this is thanks to our amazing, planet-saving customers that consistently send us their waste product. We wanted to take a minute and highlight just a few materials that regularly come our way.

There is a dog food manufacturer based in Ogden that brings us a variety of waste streams from their production; material like this is calorically dense and our digesters eat it up (literally!). A dairy out of Cache Valley brings us cheese waste and expired packaged yogurt – fermented dairy is packed full of probiotics and natural enzymes that provide ample energy for the digesters, as well as being good for its “guts”. Multiple new distilleries and breweries have hopped on board as well – they bring us liquid stillage and brew waste as well as packaged waste (like expired keg and canned or bottled beer). Sugary material like alcohol is another fuel powerhouse!

If you are a business or know of a business that would like to join the ranks of these great diverters, please reach out.

Case Study – Fisher Brewing’s Focus on Community Ensures Responsible Resource Use

When Tom Riemondy was asked why his brewery sends his company’s brewing waste to Wasatch Resource Recovery (“Wasatch”), he candidly responded, “because our wastewater permit requires it”. Tom hails from a family steeped in beer brewing history and is one of Fisher Brewing’s three founder-owners. Many microbreweries send their brewing waste down the drain, which can result in significant surcharges from wastewater treatment plants. Other breweries have their material hauled to landfills.

“While we might be small cookies in the overall scheme of things, it makes us feel good helping out the environment and our community.” – Tom Riemondy; Founder

While regulatory compliance is a requirement for all businesses, it is also true that Fisher Brewing’s founding principles promote a community minded focus. Making a conscious effort to route brewing waste to Wasatch’s anaerobic digestion project is indicative of the role Tom and his partners want to see their brewery play in the community. Instead of sending the material to a destination where the resource negatively impacts the community, he wanted to find a way to send the material to WRR where the end result is a renewable fuel source that replaces a fossil fuel. When reflecting on Fisher’s sustainability efforts, Tom states, “While we might be small cookies in the overall scheme of things it makes us feel good helping out the environment and our community.”

Good intentions aside, Fisher Brewery still needed to address some logistical challenges to achieve their waste diversion goals. Fortunately, Fisher, together with other breweries and distilleries, was able to convince their grease trap hauler to develop a separate route for brewing and distilling waste. Fisher fills 250 gallon plastic containers with the waste and their hauler uses a pump truck to remove the material from the containers. Wasatch couldn’t be happier with the situation- waste from alcohol production yields high volumes of gas and the material can be easily fed into the digesters. As Tom states, the brewery is able to, “stretch the use of resources to reduce their overall global impact”- certainly a worthy goal for individuals and organizations, alike!