City of Boston and InSinkeratorDemonstration Project

Garbage Disposers Solid Waste Management Tool

for Multi-family Buildings

Food, too good to waste!

• DEP waste ban• Moving Waste Diversion Needle

Disposers in Multi-family Residences can:• -Reduce trash• -Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions• -Optimize Resource Recovery via MWRA• -Avoid truck-based collection costs/impacts• -Cost-effective• -Promote Neighborhood Cleanliness• -Resident Participation and Satisfaction

InSinkErator Success Stories• ‒Interest generated by projects in Philly, Milwaukee, and Tacoma

How

Food Hierarchy

Food basics

• Mostly water (@70%)• Nutrient/energy rich (C:N) • 40% wasted• 15-20% of MSW• New generation disposers grind

everything (100% possible)• waste reduction, energy recovery,

compost

5

B

Boston Statistics

Population: 618,000Households: 273,000Hshds in 1 to 6-unit bldgs: 153,000 56%Hshlds in 7+ unit bldgs: 120,000 44%

Boston / InSinkErator Partnership

Project Leaders•Boston

‒Public Works Department‒Dept. of Neighborhood Development

•InSinkErator‒Carol Baricovich ‒Kendall Christiansen (former InSinkerator consultant)

SUPPORT FROM:--DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT

IDENTIFIED BUILDING AGREEABLE TO FREE DISPOSER AND INSTALLATION

--BUILDING OWNER (NUESTRA COMUNIDAD) --PROPERTY MANAGER (WINN)

First Multi-Family Building Project

Multi-family Residence

Thomas Atkins Apartments, Roxbury• 48 moderate-income units• 2- and 3-bedroom apartments

occupied by families • opened in 2010, LEED-Gold

certification

Budget• Installation $200 per unit, total $9,600 • Waste Sort costs (two two-week sorts) $25,000• Tenant education $5,000.• Disposers/switches $200/unit, total $9600.• Total project $50,000.

Budget and Timetable

Timetable –8 Months• Pre-installation Baseline waste sort –January 2014.• Tenant education begins March 2014 • Installation of disposers –April 2014.• Post-installation waste-sort –November 2014.

Resident Education• Resident Survey , Pre-installation

Survey Findings –Population Characteristics • All Ages Represented; Most Apartments w/Families • Majority of Meals (3/Day) Prepared & Eaten at Home • Before Disposers, Food Scraps in the Trash

• Demonstration Model • New Ecology tenant education

• Meetings, demonstrations, signage

Waste Characterization Studies • Conducted by Mid-Atlantic Solid Waste Consultants (MSW)

• measure baseline waste generation• Audit composition and quantity of waste• Two 1-week tests to calculate weekly generation per

household: • Waste Collection and sorting location—Save That Stuff

InSinkErator Furnished Disposers – Evolution Series® PRO Compact – Advanced Disposer in Smaller Size

Trethewey Brothers Plumbing Handled Installations

Waste Characterization ResultsPre –Installation of Disposers

Post-Installation of Disposers

ReductionFood Scraps in Trash

13 lbs/hhd/wk 8 lbs/hhd/wk 5 lbs/hhd/wk 36%30% of trash 24% of trash 6%

Other Demonstration Project ResultsCity Food Waste

Reduction

Milwaukee 26%

Philadelphia 35%

Tacoma 25%

Food Waste Characterization

Food Type

Pre-Installation(Percent of Trash)

Post-Installation

Change

Vegetable/Grains 7.3% 14.1% 50%Liquid 1.6% 1.9% -14.2%Dairy/Meat/Bones/Shells 2.0% 3.8% 44.4%Mixed/Miscell 14.1% 3.3% -82%Food in Packaging 4.4% 0.8% -84.2%Total Food Waste 29.4% 23.8% -36.2%

• Reduced Odors and Trash • Kitchen Clean-up Easier and

Quicker • Reduced Flies and Pests in

Home/ Neighborhood• Convenient • Good for Environment • Disposer Usage High

o Almost Always Use It For Meal Prep and Cleanup

o Nearly All Food Scraps in Disposer

• Helped Manage Trash • Significant Decrease in Trash

Since Disposer Installed

Post-Installation Survey: High Regard for Disposers

Boston Water and Sewer Pipes

Good Bad

Food wastes is mostly water which flows easily through waste and sewer pipes

Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) are bad for pipes

Utilizing existing pipes to transport food wastes reduces costs and emissions from trucking waste

FOG coagulates, decreasing flow

Food waste produces methane gas which powers the MWRA treatment plant

Blocked pipes cause sewer or residential plumbing to overflow

Bio solids produce fertilizer. Grease in cooking

MWRA Deer Island Treatment FacilityWaste water treatment is a biological process.It requires a balance of carbon nitrogen and phosphorous. Food waste is good for that

Annual Savings and ROI

Multi-family units

36% reduction in food waste

Trash hauling and disposal cost

Avoided hauling and disposal savings

120,000 14,000 tons per year

$156 per ton $2,200,000 per year

Disposal cost per hshold

Disposer costs 45% of Multi family hshds

Return On Investment

54,000 $504 $60,500,000 12 years

• Water Useo 1% of daily household water use

• Electricity Useo $0.50 per year

• Maintenanceo Designed to be maintenance freeo Disposer need to be used regularly for

optimal performance

Frequent Disposer Concerns

Conclusions

Disposers Contribute to SustainabilityLess food Waste in TrashLower Green House Gas EmissionsResource Recovery At MWRAResident SatisfactionNeighborhood CleanlinessPotential Cost Savings

Future of Disposers as a solid waste management tool

• Boston Housing Authority– 2000 units• Philadelphia Building Code Amendment

require disposer installation in all new residential units (Jan 1, 2016)

• New York City’s Analysis of Organic Waste Diversion February 2016 report recommends InSinkerators

Can NYC have it’s cake and compost it too?

• Expanding NYC residential curbside collection to include food-cost $200 million annually

• Processing capacity within 150 miles can accommodate 10% of organics

• Study encourages used of in- sink disposers in neighborhood with adequate wastewater treatment plant infrastructure. $4million savings in 4 districts

• Distribution of Costs among City , building owners and residents need to be resolved

Contact Information

Susan CascinoRecycling Director

Environment, Energy and Open SpaceCity of Boston

Susan.cascino@boston.gov617-635-5706