Commercial-Scale Technologies

Food Scraps Management

Institutions like universities, prisons and businesses that generate a lot of food waste may decide to process their food scraps onsite if their research shows the cost of purchasing and operating the technology is less than organics collection services.

These costs include:

  • Shipping and installation
  • Electricity or water connections
  • Maintenance and repairs
  • Staff time
  • Ongoing costs such as bulking agents or additives.

How In-Vessel Composters Work

In-vessel composting: Composting materials, such as food or landscape waste, in an enclosed drum, silo, bin, container, etc., to control emissions, temperature, and moisture.

Benefits:

  1. Cutting your food waste can reduce your waste disposal costs.
  2. You may use compost on your landscaping once it’s finished. 

Things to Consider:

  • Track how much organic waste you generate to identify your composter size.
  • Composters can handle from 50 lbs. to thousands of pounds of material a day.
  • The composter may require electricity or water connections.
  • Most composters need bulking agents such as wood pellets, almond hulls, sawdust, leaves or wood chips.
  • Most have a rotation device to turn the materials.
  • May monitor temperature, moisture, oxygen, and odor.
  • While materials may break down quickly, the material that comes out of the composter is not mature compost.
  • While some businesses may mix output from in-vessel composting with soil and mulch for their landscaping, the material may need more time to cure, cool or stabilize before use to avoid odor and nuisance issues.

How Food Dehydrators Work

  • Food waste dehydrators shred food waste and heat it to evaporate moisture.
    • The residual is dried food waste, which is a pulpy mass dry to the touch.
    • The process takes a day or less.
  • Commercial food waste dehydrators are not home dehydrators, which are used for drying fruits, vegetables, and meat to eat.
  • Dried food waste is not compost. Compost is a product that results from a complex process and takes weeks or months.
  • If the output stays dry, dehydrators may reduce odors and pests around food waste.
  • Dried food waste can re-absorb water, increasing risk of odors, pest and other health concerns.

Benefits:

Reduce the volume of food waste to reduce food waste collection costs. 

Consider:

  • Whether a food dehydrator can be placed near people handling food waste.
  • How to manage airborne emissions, liquid emissions, and solid output.

How Food Waste Liquefiers Work

  • Separate food waste from other waste.
  • Food waste liquefiers:
    • Break down food waste using a shredder or grinder.
    • May use biological additives like microorganisms or enzymes.
    • Require a continuous addition of fresh water.
  • Food waste that has been liquefied cannot be used on landscaping like graywater. It needs to be treated at a wastewater treatment plant.

Benefits:

The cost to send liquid food waste through the sewage system may be less than food waste collection costs.

Residual Liquids from Wet Systems

  • Ask your local sewage service
    • If they can take liquified food waste.
    • How much more they will charge to treat this kind of wastewater.

Considerations:

  • State regulations consider food waste solid waste.
  • Solid waste handling may also be subject to local ordinances.
  • Only operations that meet all local and state requirements can legally dispose of solid waste, including liquefied food.
  • Ask your local recycling coordinator:
    • If an anaerobic digestor is near, you can use the liquid
    • How to arrange collection of the liquified food.

More Information

How Aerobic Digesters Work

  • Aerobic digesters:
    • Require separating food waste
    • Require a drain connection.
    • You may need to add water to fill and clean the system continuously.
    • The food waste may take a few hours or a day to digest.
    • Usually, an additive is purchased from the manufacturer.
  • Food waste that has been partially digested is not graywater.
  • The lower cost of not having organic collection services may offset the increased costs of sewer service.

Benefits:

Reduce the volume of food waste to reduce food waste collection costs. 
Note: Output of digester must be collected or composted and cannot be used as a lone product.

Consider whether:

  • An aerobic digester can be placed near people handling food waste.
  • How to manage airborne emissions, liquid emissions, and solid output.
  • Check with your sewage service company to make sure the service:
    • Takes digested organic matter down your line.
    • Tells you how much more they will charge for this action. 

Environmental Health Standards for Compost

  • Digestate is not compost.
  • It could be feedstock at a composting facility permitted to accept it. 

Solid Waste Removal Considerations

  • State regulations require the owner of any business to remove solid waste at least once a week.

Solid Waste Handling and Transportation Requirements

  • Local governments license solid waste self-haulers.
  • If a business self-hauls, check with the local government about local solid waste handling and transport rules.
  • When hiring someone other than your solid waste hauler to remove waste, check their local government licensing status.

Land Application Requirements

If you plan to use the output from your onsite organics processing technology, then it must meet CalRecycle’s regulations for land use of compostable materials. These include use of compostable material and/or digestate for gardening or landscaping on a parcel of land 5 acres or less in size.

The rest of the regulations can be found at CCR 14, Section 17852 (a)(24.5.

If compostable material that fails to meet these standards is applied to land, it is considered disposed. The disposal of compostable material requires a permit. Disposal without a permit is illegal and will result in enforcement action.

In addition to CalRecycle regulations, California Water Board regulations may also apply. Consult with the Local Enforcement Agency and the Regional Water Quality Control Board to determine what is required.

If you want to sell any output material as fertilizer, the Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) fertilizer program licenses fertilizer sellers in California.

Related Links

For more information contact: Food Scrap Management, organics@calrecycle.ca.gov