A Visionary "Mines" Trash

In his July, 2011 TED, Ideas Worth Sharing video, We Can Recycle Plastic, recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland, Michael Biddle  gives an inspiring presentation on the technology evolution that may change the way we dispose of "our stuff".  With plastic integrated into most products ranging from automobiles to electronics to home appliances, bits and pieces of plastic along with whole plastic items are scattered throughout the waste stream.  The vast majority of this plastic is landfill destined.

piles of crushed autos filled
with plastic parts

Realizing steel has a higher recycling rate than more valuable plastic, Michael embarked on his journey to determine how to extract plastic from trash piles and recycling company reject streams.  The many grades of plastic present a sorting challenge as they have similar characteristics and density and may come in the same colors.  Bottom line:  current separation methods used in recycling facilities do not work for plastic.

Mike with valuable plastic
ready for separation

The initial stop in his journey was mining companies.  After all, Michael knew he was going to "mine" trash piles for valuable products and why not learn from the experts in the field.  


Mining the waste stream for plastic was the first and easier step.  The next phase was separation of  plastic by grade and color to deliver a pellet of greater value than virgin pellets.  Greater value comes not necessarily from the pellet themselves but from a production process that uses 5 - 10% of the energy used in virgin plastic manufacturing AND no new petroleum is required.

Valuable MBA  plastic pellets
ready for their next product

MBA Polymers, the company Michael founded, has three factories globally (California, China & Austria) with a technology suite that spins plastic into MBA's version of gold.  The system separates, sterilizes, melts, pelletizes and remolds recovered plastics from shredded electronics, computers and cars into a product as pure as virgin plastic.  No other additives are required for further production. 


Visionaries like Michael Biddle are the pioneers taking humanity into a new frontier, a necessary frontier as our Earth's resources are diminished at astonishing rates.  See the June ZWZ Blog post, Is Plastic Really Kin to the Devil?, where Michael is featured from an article Plastic Fantastic in Ode for Intelligent Optimists.


Michael ends his ten minute TED presentation with a clever statement about our disposable habits:  "If it is broken, It's Mike's stuff".  Watch the video to appreciate his conclusion and be inspired by Michael's ingenuity, tenacity and integrity.

It's Official: ZWZ is National!

The Zero Waste Zones - National Zone officially launched with HMSHost's concession operations at the Tampa International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Concord Mills, a Simon Property Group mall in Charlotte, NC.  HMSHost's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport concessions participate in the ZWZ-Atlanta At-Large Zone.  Visit the ZWZ Participant Directory and the National Zone page for the HMSHost listings .


In addition to ZWZ Participation, HMSHost is a Sustainable Food Court Initiative Team member.  The Atlanta Airport Concourse T food court will serve as the SFCI airport food court pilot and the Concord Mills as the mall food court pilot.  Official pilot announcements are scheduled for late October or early November, 2011.

HMSHost meeting ZWZ
food donation criteria @ Tampa Airport

Projects are in the discovery phase at the Tampa and Charlotte airport operations.  See the ZWZ Blog posts, HMSHost Presents at NRA Board Meeting and Sustainability = SHARING, for examples of HMSHost's amazing sustainability commitment.


Elemental Impact and the National Restaurant Association ConServe Program are honored to work with an industry leader willing to devote the resources necessary to evolve industry standards and practices.  Thank you Linda Dunn, HMSHost VP Supply Chain & Analysis, for transforming a vision into a reality with committed ACTION.

Sustainability = SHARING

In two recent National Restaurant Association blog posts, the common ground is the Zero Waste Zones leaders' commitment to SHARING  their sustainable practices, experiences and successes with industry comrades.

Scott Fister
getting the micro view

The October 07 post, Atlanta operators help SC peers aim for zero waste, gives the micro and macro experiences from the August tour hosted by Atlanta ZWZ Champions for their SC neighbors.  See the ZWZ Blog post, ATL Zero Waste Team Hosts SC Hospitality Tour, for tour details.  

Scott Fister, sustainability coordinator at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, took the micro viewpoint:  "I was looking at it from the ground level: What do your bins look like? What kind of wheels do they have? Have you had any problems with employee resistance?"

The big ah-ha moment for him: employees had readily adopted whatever procedures were needed to strive for zero waste. "They all shrugged and said, 'It's just how we do it now,'" he recounted.

Tom Sponseller & Douglas
OFlaherty of SCHA during ATL tour

Tom Sponseller, SC Hospitality Association president and chief executive, took the macro perspective and focussed on the necessary infrastructure to bring zero waste initiatives to his state's hospitality industry.  "We went to Atlanta to see how it could be done and whether it could be brought back here [to South Carolina]," he said.

Zero waste initiatives must make solid business sense for the individual operator and the community.  "It has to be economically feasible; we're trying to figure that out," Tom said. "Hopefully by the first of the year we'll have something going."  

Kudos to Atlanta ZWZ Champions Patrick Cuccaro (Affairs to Remember), Steve Simon (fifth group restaurants), Paul Baldesaro (Buckhead Life Group), and Jimmy Chancellor|Wes Shirley (Hyatt Regency) for taking time out their busy schedules to SHARE with their northern neighbors.

A second Atlanta tour is scheduled for mid November that will focus on infrastructure, permits, logistics and government, non-profits and business|trade association support necessary for success.  

HMSHost Banner @ Tampa
Airport loading area

The October 03 blog post, Sustainable initiative aims to green food courts, gives an overview of the Sustainable Food Court Initiative, co-chaired by Chris Moyer (NRA ConServe Program Director) and Doug Kunnemann (NatureWorks Business Segment Director), along with the pilot projects underway.  With its mission to bring zero waste initiatives to food courts, the SFCI Team is identifying the numerous challenges and roadblocks inherent within food court operations that prevent strong recycling programs.

SFCI Team member HMSHost is taking the lead role in two pilot projects ready to launch at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Concord Mills shopping mall owned by Simon Property Group, also a SFCI Team member.  

Clarice Turner of
Starbucks with Linda
@ NRA Board Mtg

During her presentation at the September NRA Board meeting, Linda Dunn (VP Supply Chain & Analysis) emphasized the prominent role the SFCI and their NRA|Ei|ZWZ relationship plays in their sustainability commitment.  The September ZWZ Blog post, HMSHost Presents @ NRA Board Meeting, gives a recap of Linda's presentation.

In addition to the formal pilot projects, HMSHost is working with the NRA|Ei\ZWZ Team on projects at the Tampa and Charlotte Airports.  Details of those projects and impressive results are forthcoming in future posts.

A true leader, HMSHost is equally committed to blazing the sustainability trail for the foodservice industry and SHARING their experiences with fellow operators.  "The whole process is about learning - identifying the best practices and bringing more participants aboard in our effort to reduce waste," Dunn says. "We want to share those learnings."

When it comes to sustainability, industry leaders put their competition hats on the shelf and work together with their competitors on discovering solutions for practices that harm the environment.  SHARING and collaborative spirit is integral to the leaders' sustainability commitments. These are thrilling times!

Waste to Energy - A Solar Perspective

Republic Services stepped to the plate with one of the first landfill covers capturing the power from the Sun.  The Hickory Ridge Landfill near Atlanta is home to a 45-acre flexible solar cover that produces enough energy to power over 200 homes.  With 7,000 solar panels on the 10 acre project, the landfill cap is the world's largest solar energy landfill cover.  


With a 30 year return built into the project, Republic Services invested $5 million, including $2 million in federal stimulus funds awarded through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.

"This is a technologically advanced solution that is actually very simple at its core," said Bob Boucher, senior vice president of operations for Republic Services, in a statement. "Given the choice of covering the site with clay and soil, or flexible solar panels, we made the choice that not only caps the landfill with an environmentally safe technology but also produces enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 224 homes."

The Georgia Solar Energy Association offers a virtual tour of the project and the following copy:

The solar energy cover being installed at the Republic Services (BFI) Hickory Ridge Landfill is an innovative and technologically advanced method of final landfill closure and renewable energy production. It is only the second such application in the country (the first being at Tessman Road Landfill in San Antonio). An exposed synthetic cover has been approved as the final closure mechanism for the landfill.

Flexible solar panels will be adhered to the cover to generate electricity. This solution enables landfills to produce clean, sustainable energy and offers a cost-effective, environmentally sound system for managing landfill closure.

Republic's visionary investment brings an entirely new perception to the concept of Waste to Energy - Kudos to Republic for investing outside of the box, or shall we say the "hole"!

Incinerating Food Residuals: Acceptable or Tragic?

U.S. Capitol Complex

Inherent within the U.S. Capitol Complex recent decision to incinerate their non-recyclable "trash" is the choice to burn valuable food residuals previously collected for composting.  Our nation's capitol is making a bold statement that burning food residuals is an acceptable use of a valuable material.  The Waste & Recycling article, Congress Says No to Composting, Will Burn Waste, gives details on the announcement.

The lack of focus on the health of our nation's soil and water is amazing and tragic.

Incineration Plant

Soil and water are the foundation of human existence - without a clean water supply and ample food grown from the soil, the human species is destined for disaster.  


Compost, nature's ingenious recycling system of plant, protein and carbon sources into food for the soil's microbial community, is a key component to cleaning the earth's water supply and rebuilding healthy soil.

The microbial community are the workers who create soil structure necessary to retain and filter water.  In addition, the interactive microbial activity provides the soil nutrients through their excretions and at times cannibalism.  Plants require the soil structure and nutrients to thrive while they produce food for the animal kingdom.

Well-structured soil retains water and requires approximately 30% less water than soil supplemented with fertilizers.  In addition, the soil structure filters contaminants from the storm water as it travels to underground streams, rivers and aquifers.  Healthy soil supporting plants with strong root systems is key to erosion control and preventing storm run-off.

Note sediment is the #1 water pollutant - the U.S. spends $40 billion per year to clean top soil out of the rivers and other waterways!

The time is NOW for the corporate and personal consumer to demand food residuals are used as nature intended - a necessary ingredient to complete the growing cycle by rejuvenating soil  via supplying the microbial community with necessary nutrients.

With the hiring of Michael Vigra as the new executive director, the U.S. Composting Council is heading into a new era of education, influence and prominence.  See the September blog post, USCC Prepares for New Era, for details on the new regime.  The 2012 Annual USCC Conference in Austin, TX has a strong soil and water component in their educational sessions.

What can you do?  Educate yourself, get involved and use your powerful voice.  The ZWZ Blog is an excellent resource and an active voice on the importance of soil and water respect and focus.