Let’s face it, waste stream management can be an afterthought for food manufacturers. True, it may not exactly be the most glamorous space, but landfill avoidance can be cutting-edge, cost reducing and environmentally friendly. In that respect, it might be the most glamorous of all jobs. But still, changing the ideology around sustainable food systems can prove to be a slow transition.
Green Field Solutions’ Commercial Manager, Tim Umbarger, shares about prioritizing food waste management systems and recycling. Here’s four ways he says companies can rethink and prioritize waste stream management:
Rethink Waste
Pursue Alternatives
Seek to Save
Call the Experts
How can food manufacturers plan ahead for waste removal?
When waste management systems precede activities such as building new facilities or launching new product lines, it saves time and money, not to mention headaches. As an afterthought, however, it can be costly and timely.
Recently, GFS was approached by a major candy producer to provide input into the construction of a new facility. Working with the company’s architects and engineers, we considered multiple scenarios for removing its sugary waste product from the new building. Helping them design a flow-path for their organic waste and recycling ensured plenty of space for the refuse-removing semi-trucks to get in and get their waste out.
How can food manufacturers reduce landfill costs?
It is a myth that company profits and sustainability efforts are mutually exclusive. In fact, the amount of money food manufacturers spend on non-sustainable, short-term solutions is staggering. When GFS finds a solution, it improves food waste systems in ways that either saves or makes our clients money.
For example, we work with a company that produces drink mixes. As you can imagine, they flush an astronomical amount of water down the drain at a significant cost to the company. Because the material isn’t ideal for the municipality’s bio-digestion pond, the company incurred additional charges. GFS’s specific solution to their specific liquid waste need ultimately saved them money.
What landfill alternatives have the biggest impact?
We excel at finding solutions that have yet to be considered. We put boots on the ground when companies need us to find solutions to problems that exist, and we’re also there to help them avoid others that don’t yet exist. For example, we are working with a facility that is bringing on a new product line. Before the first snack food will ever be prepared, we’ve already identified what the waste will be and how to prepare for it. Problem solved before it happened!
There is always an alternative to throwing things away — animal feed, composting, etc. With endless possibilities, there are endless solutions.
When should companies plan for waste stream management?
As their business evolves. As they adapt to changing markets with new products. As they expand to meet the increasing demand of a growing population. As they look for a better food waste system. And as they implement new strategies to comply with federal regulations or set zero-waste goals for organic, recycling, compost, waste-to-energy, etc.
As a comprehensive solutions company, Green Field Solutions works with clients to identify what is important to them and focus attention to that goal, whether it is cost savings, revenue generation, sustainability, or visibility.
Have questions about prioritizing your waste management?
Get in touch.
Tim Umbarger
Tim Umbarger is a Commercial Manager at Green Field Solutions with 30+ years’ experience in the food service industry. With a degree from the School of Agriculture at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a tenured background in food manufacturing and service, he is a wealth of knowledge in the flow of goods from manufacturer to end user as well as clients who represent high-profile institutions to private brands.
