Food Waste Dehydration

This is an interesting process which can be used at source to treat the waste and results in having a useable asset at the end of it. We have tried a lot of different types of waste to date, some cooked, some raw, breads, vegetables, meat, fruit, coffee grounds you name it. We have even tested a mix of compostable tableware which a lot of institutional kitchens are beginning to use. It is after all made from organic materials and the equipment we are using will handle all organics.

The results have been amazingly consistent with the only variables being the total cycle time (7 to 9 hours) and the colour and consistency of the biomass which is produced. We now have samples of biomass that have sat happily for several months in unsealed containers and shown no signs of degradation. They still have the same vaguely caramelised odour as when they were discharged and this is the biggest surprise most people have when we show them a sample.

The absolute properties of the biomass of course will vary with what has gone in so theoretically you could tailor the batches to the end use you have for it. A good example is coffee grounds which have a lower mositure content than most food waste but a high calorific value. These would be ideal for producing biomass fuel for boilers. The more general waste has been tested and classified as a high nitrogen slow release fertiliser.

Very clearly we are not producing compost which is an entirely different process and is a great means of dealing with specific organic waste streams. In both cases we have an opportunity to return something to the earth that will regenerate what is taken out when the food was originally produced and more importantly avoid sending it to landfill where it rots and produces toxic leachate and greenhouse gases.

The technology in fact exists as a response to other countries banning landfill and thus requiring more recycling of all types of waste. In very large continents the amount of investment that is now going into managing landfill is incredible. As a relatively young country we have an opportunity to better manage the risks of this and given much of our contry is inhospitable we certainly shouldnt turn the liveable bits into landfill !

Sustainable solutions such as this and many others need more support at state and federal levels. It was a pity to see the biomass bill didnt go through recently which demonstrates a lack of understanding amongst some our senior politicians…

Responsible Air Treatment Systems For Kitchens

There are a lot of ways of treating the air stream from the various cooking processes you find in a commercial kitchen. These have evolved significantly from the early days of open canopies with honeycomb style filters such as that at left though surprisingly they are still in use today in some countries.

The next generation was the baffle filter which whilst a step up from the honeycomb is still generally considered to be only 35% efficient. There are many iterations of these types of filters around and all are meant to allow capture of the oil in the canopy for recovery. In practice you rarely see a lot of oil recovered and there are a plethora of companies engaged to clean the oil that has condensed in the hood and ductwork.

Whats more an important purpose of the filter in a hood is to prevent flames from entering the exhaust duct. The filter aspect of the device is to facilitate condensing of the moisture and grease vapors so it can be captured by centrifugal separation as the material passes through baffles, turns, cooling surfaces, etc.

 

More recently inroads have been made by an increase in the contact surface area with high-velocity cartridge filters. There are units such as those pictured which are 95% efficient and allow easy recycling of the oil captured. There are also water mist-type hoods which also cool and condense grease and moisture vapors at the filter area.

An important aspect to consider is that many neighbours are concerned about kitchen exhaust grease, smoke and odors. With the increase in multi purpose inner city developments restaurants, cafes and residential units have to cohabit. Local pollution laws mean that if neighbours complains about smoke and odors, the polluter must either fix it or face closure.

This and the lack of efficiency of standard baffle filters have led to the development of secondary filtration devices. These include electrostatic precipitators, water mist, pleated media, activated carbon, oxidizing bed, and ultraviolet. However, each of these units is costly and requires expensive, ongoing maintenance.

We believe in the old adage that prevention is better than the cure so the use of high-efficiency primary grease filters is a more responsible way to approach this than relying on secondary filtration. (if the oil can be captured in sufficient quantity to be properly recycled that is another responsible tick.)

Of course there are some cooking types that will produce pollutants even the best cartridge filters wont stop. Even so combining good primary filters with a source specific secondary treatment will provide the most sustainable outcome. For example odours are gaseous particles so can be treated with ozone or carbon based systems. You wont get a lot of life out carbon filters though if they are being clogged with grease.  As with all things out of sight they quickly become out of mind hence systems like Ultraviolet quickly become ineffective due to build up of grease and ash.

Quite simply the life of secondary systems will be extended and maintenance procedures reduced when combined with highly efficient primary filtration and that is a responsible way to look at your air treatment.

Carbon zero housing: Payback time?

Very interesting read, wonder how long before this really applies to general industry in Australia

Balanced view, we have been very successful with some pretty awful odours using Ozone technology developed by the University of Manchester.

Welcome to Phil and Nikki's

Using Ozone for odour removal has been somewhat controversial. On one hand, this naturally occurring is responsible for the clean, fresh feel and smell in the air after a thunder storm. On the other, it is equated to pollution concentrations on “bad air” days. So, is it a good idea to use ozone, especially from an environmental standpoint, to rid your home or business of bad odours?

First, let me explain what ozone is. Ozone is simply three oxygen molecules bound together. This molecule is created when 2 oxygen molecules are passed through a highly charged environment (like a lightning storm, or in an ozone generator, over highly charged plates). The molecule that is created is very unstable and one of the oxygen molecules will readily attach itself to other surrounding molecules. When this happens, the remaining 2 oxgen molecules are simply the pure oxygen all life needs on this planet…

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We would have to concur and things are no different here in Australia but we are seeing signs that some of the business types noted are looking to change. There is also technology available nowadays to recycle at source and avoid the municipal waste streams altogether.

Blogging Hub

Food waste is an untapped energy source that mostly ends up rotting in landfills, thereby releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Food waste is difficult to treat or recycle since it contains high levels of sodium salt and moisture, and is mixed with other waste during collection. Major generators of food wastes include hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, residential blocks, cafeterias, airline caterers, food processing industries, etc.

In United States, food waste is the third largest waste stream after paper and yard waste. Around 12.7 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the year 2008 was food scraps that amounted to about 32 million tons. According to EPA, about 31 million tons of food waste was thrown away into landfills or incinerators in 2008. As far as United Kingdom is concerned, households throw away 8.3 million tons of food each year. These statistics are an indication of tremendous amount of…

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Landfill Seepage

You never really bury a problem successfully as noted in this article. The symptoms are now being dealt with but the cause will be there for many years to come. If the economics of recycling were calculated to include such things then there would be a much greater uptake on new technologies designed to reduce or even eliminate waste from going to landfill. I have to admire the Japanese who have turned this around to the extent that they are making it profitiable. Of course that takes time and real commitment and possibly a political model that does not have so many levels as Australia suffers…

Worcester Telegram & Gazette – telegram.com – Landfill seepage, costs up says BoH chairman.

Sydney Launches Interim Waste Strategy

Not surprising for a city that has, as they state, Australia’s highest density urban environment. They have produced a very useful document I have attached at the bottom of this post but you can also go to their web site for a look or grab the file directly here. The main concern is landfill and for good reasons when you read this excerpt:

Avoiding Landfill Disposal

Most of Australia’s garbage has been dumped in landfill for the past 50 years. Landfill, however, has significant disadvantages including:

1. Valuable resources are lost when material is buried in landfill

2. Landfills pose an environmental hazard from potential greenhouse gas emissions or groundwater contamination

3. Sydney’s existing landfills will be full by 2019 and, because of land requirements and costs, any new landfill facilities will be a long way from the City

4. Increasing government levies, stricter environmental controls and competition for access have dramatically raised the cost of landfill disposal

5. Relying on distant landfills shifts the burden of the City’s waste management onto other communities. Landfill disposal is no longer cheap and easy, and is not an environmentally sustainable solution. The City is therefore using alternative Advanced Waste Treatment options now available, which can recover resources from just over half of the garbage stream and produce compost. These existing technologies do, however, still produce a significant amount of “residual waste” that needs to go to landfill. If nothing changes, future generations will still need to find more space for landfills.

This is an increasing problem for all Australian cities and towns and is not limited to the metropolitan areas. The load placed on a town like Roxby Downs for example due to the Olympic Dam mine is enormous. Feeding the large workforce generates several tonne of organic waste every week which if sent to landfill generates a significant amount of methane. The good thing is we know that one client is doing something about it and recycling the organic waste at source.

From our research in the past most mining companies have followed the landfill route as it is the cheap option and they do dig holes that need to be filled back in. I hope that as at Olympic Dam they are moving away from that now that environmental regulations have tightened and the land must be repatriated.

With the resources boom going on here there are no doubt many such problems that exist also in Western Australia and Queensland.

We are in the City of Sydney’s camp on this one.

City of Sydney Interim Waste Strategy

 

 

QR Codes

What do you think of these ? They are popping up all over the place and most folks seem to have a QR reader on their smart phones. There is something matrix-esque about them which makes me wonder if there are a few Neo’s out there who can read the codes without a reader. Like them or not they are certainly one of the new tools of modern business and social media and being a technophile myself (though without young enough eyes to easily see a smartphone)  I appreciate that they remove the need to type in a web address or otherwise to get further information on what I am interested in.

Is sustainability the key to corporate success? | Guardian Sustainable Business | guardian.co.uk

Good Article

Is sustainability the key to corporate success? | Guardian Sustainable Business | guardian.co.uk.

City of Melbourne Adding to its Environmental Credentials

Great to see the initiative taken by Epicure at the Town Hall shared with the wider community. Local government is often accused of not doing the right thing but in this case they are setting a great example to others. The ability to utilise the biomass produced as a soil amendment with parks and gardens means that nothing is wasted and they are giving back to the earth. Just one more way of keeping Melbourne at the top of the most liveable cities list !