Posted by tj14 on December 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment
SuperValu, which owns Albertson’s, announced recently that two grocery stores in Santa Barbara, Calif., have achieved zero waste classification in their daily operations.
How did they do it?
Simple, they went the extra mile with recycling, food donation program and organic composting.
The stores now divert all non-contaminated waste from landfills and incinerators. In total, over 95% of all waste products from both stores are recycled, reused or composted — exceeding the 90% threshold commonly recognized as zero waste.
What’s especially cool is that Albertson’s partnered with the City of Santa Barbara to establish one of the first citywide composting programs in the United States, which is a key piece of their waste diversion efforts. As a result of this program the city will compost 4,000,000 lbs. of foodscraps from 120 program participants this year alone. So kudos to each of the participants.
Another key component of the waste diversion program includes donating staple and perishable products that would otherwise go to waste for area food banks. Called the Albertsons Fresh Rescue Program, these two stores donate on average a total of 149,598 lbs. per year of food to the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
Filed under Recycling, Waste Cost Control Tips · Tagged with Albertson S Grocery, City Of Santa Barbara, Compost, Contaminated Waste, Diversion Program, Donation Program, Extra Mile, Food Banks, Food Donation, Foodbank, Grocery Stores, Incinerators, Landfills, Perishable Products, Program Participants, Santa Barbara County, Supervalu, Waste Classification, Waste Diversion, Zero Waste
Posted by tj14 on June 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Wisconsin landfills have low costs which encourages waste haulers in bordering states to use Wisconsin landfills.
To help offset the budget shortfall, and for a host of other reasons, the landfill tipping fee is set to rise from $5.90 per ton to $13.00 per ton. Yikes!
Critics say the out of state haulers will look elsewhere for landfills, and that the plan won’t work to generate extra revenue for the state.
The risk to trash generators is that since this is a state tax, you’ll have to eat the cost increase should the State legislature pass the bill.
