Food Waste Focus

In the United States, food waste has increased by 50% since 1974 and today over 40 percent of all food produced in the U.S. is thrown out.  These figures not only pose a significant environmental threat, but also a critical social challenge as more people struggle with hunger.  According to the EPA, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated in the U.S. in 2010 and less than 3% was recycled and recovered.  The rest - 33 million tons - was thrown away, making food waste the single largest component of municipal solid waste (MSW) reaching landfills and incinerators.

Food waste is generated from many sources including supermarkets, restaurants, food processors, schools, etc..., but the challenge is designating the best method/outlet for disposal.

Donation:  Hunger is one of the greatest challenges facing our country today. In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children. Donating surplus food inventory to food banks can be efficient and cost effective. It reduces warehouse storage and disposal costs, and your local food bank can also pick up your donations free of charge. Food donation can also generate significant tax benefits for companies. To help encourage donations, the "Good Samaritan" law was created to prevent good food from going to waste while protecting companies from liability. Here are a couple of great food donation programs: Feeding America, Ample Harvest and Second Harvest.

Rendering For Animal Feed:  Food waste rendering for animal feed is an important part of food waste reduction and something farmers have come to rely on. Many supermarkets, restaurants, food processors, etc... find that rendering food waste not only benefits farmers, but can also help the bottom line.

Anaerobic Digestion:  The benefits of anaerobic digestion are twofold: harnesses the inherent value in food waste and creates clean renewable energy and the digestate can be used as a natural fertilizer (which improves soil health).

Composting:  Composting offers companies another option for diverting their organic waste from landfills while contributing to the creation of a beneficial byproduct.

Landfills:  Sending food waste to landfills should be a last resort and only considered when the above options are unavailable. Landfills are the single largest source of methane gas in the U.S., which is 23 times more destructive as a greenhouse gas (GHG) than CO2.





Before a company can decide which food waste recovery is best, they must first understand their waste stream. At Garb-el we offer our customers more than a machine, we offer a turnkey organic waste solution including:

       1.  Conduct a waste audit
       2.  Determine the most cost effective and environmental organic waste diversion option
       3.  Identify the number of stores/locations in a given territory
       4.  Staff training program

Diverting food waste from landfills is not only the sustainable and socially responsible thing to do, but can also increase profitability. The ultimate goal of food waste diversion should be finding the productive process for handling food waste with the greatest return.

American River Packaging Anaerobic Digester Project

Garb-el Products Company is excited to announce its participation in the nation's first commercial high-solid organic waste conversion facility located at American River Packaging's (ARP) Sacramento, CA headquarters.

The Clean World Organic Waste Recycling Center is based on anaerobic digestion technology developed by UC Davis professor Ruihong Zhang with support and research provided by the California Energy Commission, CalRecycle along with private financial support.  This technology converts food waste, agricultural residue and other organic waste into renewable energy, fertilizer and soil enhancements.  As part of this project, Clean World Partners (CWP) sought to find a field proven, energy efficient and economical pre-processing grinder to break down the feedstock before introducing it into the digester tanks.

CWP researched several companies prior to contacting Garb-el with varying degrees of succcess.  The primary stubling block to locating the right technology seemed to be finding a piece of equipment capable of efficiently handling not only the food waste, but also the unrecyclable corrugated waste from ARP.

"After speaking with CWP about the specific details of the project with respect to feedstock volume, expected throughput and desired particulate to water ratio, we were able to design a complete front-end pre-processing system capable of handling both the food and cardboard waste," said James M. Carbone Jr., President, Garb-el Products Company. 

The anaerobic digestion system at ARP will convert 7.5 tons per day of food waste and a half ton each day of unrecyclable corrugated cardboard material into renewable natural gas.  The system will generate 1,300 kWh of renewable energy per day, meeting approximately 37 percent of ARP’s electricity needs and diverting an estimated 2,900 tons of waste from entering landfills each year.

“CWP has taken a progressive and innovative approach to the anaerobic digestion model, and we were proud to partner with them on this exciting project,” said Carbone.

Albany Renewable Energy Project

(Garb-el technicians test system after installation)

On February 14, 2012, Garb-el Products Company announced its participation in an innovative renewable energy pilot project launched by Spectrum BioEnergy and in partnership with the Albany County Sewer District with financial support from the New York State Research and Development Authority.  In an effort to divert organic waste from landfills, the project aimed to utilize Garb-el’s Organic Waste Grinder (OWG) to preprocess the feedstock and create a completely closed loop and energy-efficient system for transforming organic waste material into energy.

The project members  “...joined hands after seeing the gap in anaerobic digestion solutions among wastewater treatment plants and food processing entities in the state,” according to Richard J. Lyons, executive director for the Albany County Sewer District.

The sludge from Albany County South Wastewater Treatment Plant and food waste from the neighboring City of Watervliet and Bimbo Bakeries USA are ground into a fine slurry with the Garb-el OWG before being fed into the anaerobic digester.

“Spectrum searched for a high quality, economical grinder, and were pleased to discover Garb-el’s OWG,” said Spectrum President, Ramu Ravipati.  “Since installing the Garb-el grinder, we’ve been very pleased and have realized increased feeding efficiency of our waste streams.”

The Garb-el OWG machines grind and process various organic feedstocks by either dumping or conveying the waste into the stainless steel chute and feed hopper.  The waste is then auger fed into the hammermill where it is pulverized and reduced in size to pass through the steel filter screen.  Garb-el’s equipment is utilized in industries including anaerobic digestion, composting, biofuels, wastewater treatment of biosolids and sludge, vermi-composting, commercial waste and agriculture. Customers incorporate this equipment in projects ranging in processing size from 2 tons per day to more than 150 tons per day. 

“Continued investment in clean and renewable energy technologies plays a pivotal role in a balanced approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing climate change,” said James M. Carbone Jr., President of Garb-el. “Spectrum BioEnergy should be lauded for their innovative approach to the anaerobic digestion model, and we’re proud to partner with them on this exciting project.”