United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA530-F-96-037
September 1996
Managing Food Scraps as
Animal Feed
This tipsheet was
developed by
WasteWi$e, EPA's
voluntary program
which assists
businesses in
taking cost-
effective actions
to reduce solid
waste, through
waste prevention,
recycling, and
buying recycled
products.
or restaurants, hotels, and companies with
foodservice operations, collecting food scraps for
use as livestock feed can be a practical option and
a great WasteWi$e goal. Even if your company is located in
a city, there may be farms located nearby that can use your
scraps. Reusing food scraps as hog and cattle feed diverts
waste from the landfill and can save your company money
in hauling and disposal costs. For example, WasteWi$e
partner 3M saves more than $30,000 annually by sending
its food scraps to a nearby farm. Over two
years, this action has diverted 90,000
pounds of food from disposal.
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GETTING STARTED
Safe Storage and Handling Procedures
Collecting food scraps for use as animal feed requires less effort on the part of
the producer than you might imagine. All you will need to do is separate the
food scraps from other waste materials and keep the food covered and
refrigerated (or stored in a cool place) until a farmer is able to pick it up. Some
farmers will provide you with reusable airtight containers for storing your food
scraps until they are picked up. Certain foods, such as coffee grounds and scraps
with high concentrations of salt, should be separated from food you plan to donate,
as they can be harmful to livestock.
Permitting and Other Requirements
nere are no known permitting requirements for donors of food scraps. It is,
however, important that you find a farmer that has a permit to accept
^L commercial food scraps for feeding to livestock. The 1980 federal Swine
Health Protection Act requires that farmers boil any food scraps containing meat
before they can be used as livestock feed. State laws regarding treatment of non-
meat scraps used as animal feed vary; some states require that the scraps be boiled,
while others impose no regulations. Some states prohibit scraps from cafeterias,
restaurants, or grocery stores from being fed to animals. Check with your state
veterinarian to find out if reusing food scraps as animal feed is permitted in your
state.
locating a Farmer
• n setting up a food scrap reuse program you need to coordinate your activities
• with a local farmer. Only certain farms are licensed to prepare and feed
J.commercial food scraps to livestock. If feeding food scraps to livestock is
permitted in your state, your state veterinarian should be able to assist you in
locating a licensed farmer. You may be able to find an organization in your area,
such as your county extension office or a private hauler, that coordinates activities
with farmers. A local farmers' market may also help you find a farmer. In addition,
you may want to run an advertisement in your local newspaper.
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ISSUES TO CONSIDER
Before you establish a program for collecting food scraps for animal feed, you should
evaluate its feasibility. You may want to consider the following points:
Is the quantity of food
scraps sufficient to
make the food reuse
project worthwhile?
Do you generate the
food scraps on a routine
basis? (Daily, weekly,
etc.)
Can the material be
kept fresh until it can
be picked up by a
farmer?
Do you have adequate
storage space to hold
the material until it can
be picked up?
— Different farmers may have varying demand for food scraps.
Some may be willing to accept any amount of food, regardless of
size, while others may not be willing to collect small
quantities. Before you locate a farmer, try to estimate the
volume of food scraps you generate daily or weekly—this may
determine what kind of arrangements you ultimately negotiate.
— Your food scrap generation may vary on a daily basis,
producing higher volumes on some days than others. Some
companies may hold special weekly events that are responsible
for the bulk of their food scraps. Evaluating the frequency with
which you generate food scraps will help you determine if
collecting food scraps for animal feed is a feasible option. It will
also help you establish a pick-up schedule with a farmer if you
decide to collect your scraps.
— Many farmers will collect your food scraps daily and provide
you with airtight containers for storing the scraps. Farmers
usually require that the food is kept in either a refrigerator or
other cool place until pick-up. If you make arrangements with a
farmer who does not collect scraps daily, ask the farmer if you
need to take any additional precautions to keep the food fresh to
accommodate a less frequent pick-up schedule.
— Storage containers for food scraps can be quite large (55-
gallon drums or 32-gallon barrels). You may want to designate a
storage space in advance and factor your space availability into
pick-up and other arrangements with a farmer.
Some companies may be able to sell their scraps to farmers, while others may need to
pay a pick-up fee. Pick-up fees tend to be nominal and are usually far less than landfill
tipping fees. Thus, even if there is a pick-up charge, it still may be cost-effective for you
to collect your food scraps for animal feed.
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SUCCESS STORIES
Bell
A
in March 1993 Bell Atlantic, a
Jf WasteWi$e charter partner in East
JLOrange, New Jersey, began donating food
scraps from its cafeteria, which feeds 600
employees daily, to local farmers. The
company had made earlier attempts to
establish a food scraps donation program
but encountered difficulties in finding
farmers that were permitted to prepare and
feed cafeteria scraps to their livestock. This
all changed when, at a conference of state
recyclers, Bell Atlantic found a local
business that acted as a broker between
companies and farmers to facilitate the
donation process. Bell Atlantic's cafeteria
employees simply began separating food
scraps from other cafeteria trash and placing
them in covered plastic barrels in a special
collection area for pick-up; no extra time or
work was necessary. Bell Atlantic
employees were quite enthusiastic about
their new effort: several of them even had
their picture taken with a pig who is fed
with company food scraps! According to
Maureen Burke, recycling coordinator at
Bell Atlantic, the key to a successful
donation program is finding someone with a
reliable pick-up schedule. Apparently, the
company found just that: Bell Atlantic
donated 10,000 pounds of food scraps as
animal feed in 1994.
3M
3M, a WasteWi$e charter partner in St.
Paul, Minnesota, discovered that
turning food scraps and edible oils into
hog feed not only diverts waste from the
landfill, but also saves the company money.
3M Food Services, which prepares
thousands of meals daily for 12,000
employees, found that disposing of the
company's food preparation waste was a
messy and costly endeavor and began to
explore creative disposal solutions. The
company hired an environmental
consultant, who suggested using food scraps
and oil as hog feed, and located a family
farming operation experienced in collecting
and preparing reclaimed food. To increase
understanding between the groups, farm
employees toured 3M Food Services, and
3M employees visited the farm. According
to Bob Blanchard at 3M Food Services,
educating Food Services employees was the
key to the program's success. Says
Blanchard: "They understood the scraps
were going to feed hogs and recognized the
importance of keeping paper, glass, and
metal from mixing with the food scraps." In
the program's first two years, 90,000 pounds
of food scraps and edible oils were used as
hog feed and diverted from the landfill or
incinerator. This has translated into a
savings of more than $30,000 for 3M.
I
f you are interested in collecting your
food scraps for livestock feed, you
should contact:
Your county agricultural extension,
where available
Your state veterinarian
Your county health department
These sources should be able to provide you
with information regarding your state's
laws governing food scraps for animal feed
and may be able to help you locate a
licensed farmer. You can generally find a
listing for your state veterinarian in the
phone book under your state's Department
of Agriculture or Board of Animal Health.
The Waste Wile program gratefully acknowledges the
Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) for its help in preparing this document.
For more information on the WasteWi$e program, call 800 EPA-WISE
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