Reducing Food Waste through Tech

REDUCING FOOD WASTE

THROUGH TECH

By volume, food waste makes up most trash in Massachusetts landfills. Unidine’s onsite Dining Services management team at Holyoke Medical Center found a solution to decrease the hospital’s kitchen food waste to make a considerable impact.

The team uses Compass Group’s Waste Not program and focuses on thoughtfully planning their menus to decrease excess production as a first step to reducing food waste. But the first step wasn’t enough. Unnecessary waste was still entering the local landfill. With resources provided by the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency, Holyoke used a food-waste calculation tool to determine how much food was going into the landfill and explore some of their best options in combating this.

As a result of the research completed by our onsite Holyoke Dining Services management team and Unidine Vice President of Healthcare Culinary Group, Anthony Pacchioni, Holyoke purchased the ORCA Waste Digester. The innovative system turns approved food waste into a liquid waste stream that is environmentally safe for disposal by mimicking a natural digestion process. Commercial food operation is a resource-intense undertaking, and Unidine has an opportunity to provide its clients a cost-effective solution to lower the environmental impact of their culinary program. ORCA meets the requirements of a complete recycling solution as food waste is converted into a reusable material. ORCA provides an avenue for Holyoke to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. By digesting food waste into liquid, Holyoke minimizes the methane and carbon dioxide emitted through food waste by recycling onsite.

Overall waste reduction is a huge driver of using the ORCA at Holyoke Medical Center. Since installing the ORCA, they have diverted 1,640 pounds of waste from the landfill in just six months, equating to 156 gallons of water saved.