Food waste is the largest and stinkiest burden to the waste stream and is a big enough problem to call the EPA to action through summits and establishment of tall food waste reduction goals.
Philadelphia is playing its part to try and get a handle on the problem hoping these small household appliances can help manage the city’s mounting garbage—especially among its narrow streets.Still, plumbers tend to encourage people to feed the landfill over the disposer. They and some food scientists argue these appliances are not meant for large food volumes and should not receive some food scraps at all as they will break the disposer and clog pipes. But Michael Keleman, an environmental engineer for Emerson, said they just have to be properly used to their capacity.Some have several grind stages to liquefy any food waste, even chicken bones, fruit rinds, and coffee grounds.
Through its pilot program, Philadelphia found that adopting these appliances citywide could divert about 19,000 tons and save about $1.1 million in waste disposal and related costs every year, as reported in CNBC.
Whether or not there are disagreements on best practices, most stakeholders can all agree that food waste is a big, stinky deal and needs to be reckoned with. 200 cities have even set up curbside food scrap collections to combat the issue in a different way.
