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January 2020 Westchester County Food Waste Study

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Memorandum Department of Environmental Facilities George Latimer County Executive Vincent Kopicki, P.E. Commissioner DATE: January 27, 2020 TO: Hon. George Latimer, County Executive CC: Joan McDonald, Director of Operations Peter McCartt, Director of Sustainability Aviva Meyer, Assistant to the County Executive, Public Health & Infrastructure FROM: Vincent F. Kopicki, P.E., Commissioner Louis J. Vetrone, Esq., Deputy Commissioner Melissa-Jean Rotini, Esq., Director of Environmental Management Operations RE: Food Waste Study: Report and Initiatives The Food Waste Study commissioned by the County has been completed. The scope of the project included a review of applicable technologies, and sought recommendations as to which technologies would best suit the needs of the County, its municipalities, residents, and environmental goals. The resultant report, completed by Woodard & Curran, made mid-term recommendations for handling food waste. The mid-term recommendations are for co-digestion of food waste at an existing County water recovery facility, and/or a small-scale anaerobic digester co-located at the Wheelabrator facility in Peekskill. The long-term recommendation is for a dedicated anaerobic digester facility to be located within the County, likely achieved through a public-private partnership. As the Report focused primarily on mid and long-term solutions, DEF has developed and recommends the following immediate and short-term proposals. Additionally, the County established a Food Scrap Work Group with community stakeholders to develop short-term proposals for municipal food scrap handling. The Work Group proposed a pilot program to determine the feasibility of accepting municipally collected food scraps at the Yonkers Transfer Station. That pilot program is currently being established. DEF Food Scrap Delivery and Transportation Program In an effort to allow all Refuse Disposal District #1 municipalities to participate in food scrap recycling, irrespective of budgetary constraints of the municipality, DEF proposes the County initiate a Food Scrap Delivery and Transportation Program (“FSDTP”) with a private hauler. Under FSDTP, the County would issue a request for proposals for a licensed carting company to provide: (1) pick-up of source-separated food scraps collected at municipal drop-off programs; (2) a facility where municipal food scraps can be consolidated and where municipalities operating curbside collection programs can deliver food scraps; and (3) transport of consolidated municipal food scraps to a food waste recycling facility. The FSDTP would allow District municipalities to initiate food scrap collection programs, continue existing programs, and expand and enhance programs as their need, budget, and staffing permits. It is anticipated that the County would be able to offer the program to participating municipalities at a subsidized rate similar to the current solid waste disposal fee ($29.28/ton), which would result in a considerable savings for the municipalities. District municipalities would have the option to enter into an IMA to participate in the FSDTP, which would be a voluntary program. To expedite the start of the contract and to further reduce costs for District municipalities, DEF would make available to the winning bidder a specialized 75 cubic yard tractor-trailer to prevent leaking during transport of the food scraps. The loads being delivered to composting facilities would be consolidated to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is anticipated that only 1-2 trips per week would be necessary to transport the food scraps from existing municipal programs to an organics recycler. DEF believes that the FSDTP could be established and operational in approximately six months. DEF Compost Site and Education Center As indicated in the Report, composting is best able to be used in-County on a local scale. Many municipalities have department of public works yards with adequate space for composting the food scraps produced within their borders. Local processing of the food scraps collected would reduce GHG emissions created by transporting food scraps to commercial composting facilities. Additionally, backyard composting is also possible in many areas of the County. The establishment of a small-scale Compost Site and Education Center (“CSEC”) would allow residents and District municipalities to learn about the benefits of composting, including the GHG emission savings when composting is local, and how to incorporate food scraps into existing yard waste composting programs. As an active small-scale composting site, residents and District municipalities could observe the methods, space requirements, and various levels of equipment that can be used in composting. The CSEC would help to make local municipal and at-home composting accessible to municipalities and residents. DEF believes that the CSEC could be established and operational within 12-15 months. Under both the FSDTP and CSEC, DEF Recycling Office staff would provide a fact sheet and support for municipalities in applying for State Grant Matching Funds to offset the cost of the items necessary for District municipalities to establish drop-off food scrap collection and/or composting programs. 2 FOOD WASTE STUDY REPORT 800 Westchester Avenue | Suite N507 Rye Brook, New York 10573 214642.00 800.807.4080 Westchester County Woodard & Curran Engineering P.A. P.C. COMMITMENT & INTEGRITY DRIVE RESULTS January 21, 2020 214642.00 Westchester County Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1-1 2. FOOD WASTE QUANTITY ESTIMATES ........................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Commercial Food Waste Quantity Estimates ................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Comparative Analysis and Validation .................................................................................. 2-2 2.2 Residential Food Waste Quantity Estimates .................................................................................. 2-3 3. FOOD WASTE AVOIDANCE AND DIVERSION ............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Resources for Commercial Food Waste Disposal Avoidance ........................................................ 3-1 3.2 Food Waste Recovery Potential in Westchester County ................................................................ 3-6 4. FOOD WASTE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES .......................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Food Waste Technology Analysis .................................................................................................. 4-1 4.1.1 Open Windrow Composting ................................................................................................. 4-1 4.1.2 In-Vessel Composting .......................................................................................................... 4-2 4.1.3 Anaerobic Digestion ............................................................................................................. 4-4 4.1.4 Hybrid System (Anaerobic Digestion with Composting)....................................................... 4-5 4.1.5 Wastewater Treatment Plant Co-Digestion .......................................................................... 4-5 4.2 Greenhouse Gas Emission Considerations .................................................................................... 4-7 5. CURRENT FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES .............................................................................. 5-1 5.1 Residential Food Waste Recycling Participation ............................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Commercial Food Waste Management .......................................................................................... 5-3 6. FOOD WASTE PROCESSING AND RECYCLING FACILITY SOLUTIONS .................................................. 6-1 6.1 Factors Considered in the Analysis of Potential Solutions ............................................................. 6-1 6.2 Mid-Term Solutions ........................................................................................................................ 6-3 6.2.1 Co-Digestion at Peekskill’s WRRF ....................................................................................... 6-3 6.2.2 Anaerobic Digester Co-Location at Peekskill’s Wheelabrator WTE Facility ......................... 6-6 6.3 Long-Term Solution ........................................................................................................................ 6-7 6.3.1 Development of County Owned Property ............................................................................ 6-7 7. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ANALYSIS ............................................................................................... 7-1 8. INTERIM MEASURES CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................................... 8-1 9. OVERALL PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE .............................................................................. 9-1 9.1 Interim Solution: Transfer Station Accommodations for Food Scraps ...........................................
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