United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA-530-F-98-023g
September 1998
www.epa.gov/osw
New York State
Department of
Correctional Services
(DOCS), New York
90% Recovery of Food Discards
In 1997, 47 of 70 correctional facilities in the New York State
Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) composted at 30 sites, which accept
from 7/2 to 4 tons of food discards a day. Participating facilities recover 90% of their food and
other organic discards. Through composting, DOCS facilities realize a net savings of $564,200
per year in avoided disposal costs.
Program Description
In 1989,a survey found that food scraps
comprised 30 percent by weight of DOCS'
waste stream. A desire to reduce disposal
costs as well as comply with state waste
reduction legislation led DOCS to begin its
composting program. Participating facilities
prepare approximately 125,000 meals daily
for an average of 1,000 inmates per facility.
Kitchen workers put food preparation
discards in unlined plastic containers;
inmates put leftovers in a container in
the dining hall. Full containers are
refrigerated until inmates take them to
the composting sites three or four times
a week.
By refrigerating the discards, DOCS
avoids odor problems. At the
composting sites, discards are mixed
with bulking material and windrow
composted. Wood chips made from
scrap wood produced on the premises
comprise most of the bulking agent.
Some programs also use yard debris
from neighboring communities.
Sites accept chicken bones and
food containing meat, such as chili.
Some covered windrows accept
paper towels and other soiled
paper; some of the bigger sites
can handle waxed cardboard.
Facilities with open windrows do
not accept paper, as it often blows away,
creating a litter problem.
Other than attracting a few birds now
and then, the facilities have no vector
problems. To keep vectors to a minimum,
DOCS keeps the temperature of the windrow
piles at 145°Fand mixes new food discards
with a bulking agent immediately upon
bringing them to the compost site.
DOCS central office resource management
staff prepared a training manual addressing
issues such as bulking ratios,turning frequency,
and legal aspects of composting programs. In
addition, central office staff are on-site for the
first few days of each composting program to
train staff and trouble shoot.They also train
new staff. Composting responsibilities are
integrated into existing job descriptions. Staff
at each site train inmates in composting
procedures. Well-trained staff and inmates
who are invested in the program keep
contamination to a minimum.
Contact:
Resource Management Director
NY State Department of Correctional
Services
Eastern Correctional Facility
601 Berme Rd.
Napanoch, NY 12458
(914)647-1653
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DOCS kitchen staff collect large
bones and liquid fat in 30- to 50-gallon
barrels provided by a rendering
company. The company retrieves them
every two weeks free of charge and
processes these materials for
manufacture into cosmetics and soaps.
Costs/Benefits
Despite increased hauling and
tipping rates, the Department's
trash disposal expenditures decreased
10.3% in the first seven years of its food
discard recovery program. In FY89,
DOCS spent $2.3 million on trash
disposal. In FY97, DOCS spent
$2,062,477 on trash disposal, avoiding
$2,350,957 in disposal costs through
the Department's recycling (including
composting) programs. In 1997,
handling material for composting costs
approximately $34 per ton. This covers
expenditures on capital equipment,
supplies,and civilian labor, including
the position of Resource Management
Director, which was
created to oversee the
program. The average
landfill tipping fee is $125
per ton. Net savings through
composting are approximately
$91 per ton. Lowered fertilizer
costs at DOCS farms avoids additional
costs.
Inmates feel positive about the
program. Able to see waste becoming
an end product, inmates feel part of a
productive process that makes sense.
Before the program began, inmates
watched a closed-circuit video on why
composting works,and how it saves
money and resources. Recycling,
including composting, has become just
another way of doing business at DOCS.
Three facilities offer inmates
technical training in composting.
Inmates learn the basics of recycling,
such as what to do and where
recyclables (including compostables)
go once they are collected. Inmates
also learn technical aspects of the
processes. Guest speakers explain what
inmates can expect on the job. When
they leave prison, inmates who have
gone through this training will have
skills and some of the language that
qualify them for jobs in recycling,
including composting,facilities.
DOCS provides communities with
free compost as a community service.
DOCS uses some finished compost
on its farms, but most is used in inmate
horticulture programs and prison
landscaping. Eighty percent is used in-
house, providing large avoided costs
from not buying green house soil
mixes, peat moss,or mulches.Twenty
percent is used in inmate public service
programs.
Tips for Replication
• Present a technically sound and
feasible plan before start-up to ensure
success.
• Involve everyone,from the
superintendent to the commissioner to
the maintenance workers, from the
start. Educate people so they
understand why composting makes
sense both environmentally and
economically. If people understand
why you are offering a good program,
they will buy into it.
Program Summary, FY97
Sector
Meals per day
Start date
Dedicated Employees*
Method
Materials collected
Part of comprehensive waste
reduction program?
Total waste generated (TPY)
Food and other organic discards
generated (TPY)
RESULTS:
Food discards recovered (TPY)
Food and other organic discards
recovered (%)
Total waste recovered (%)
Correctional Facilities
125,000
1990 at 2 sites; 47 facilities in 1997
1
On-site and off-site windrow composting
Food preparation discards, leftovers,chicken
bones, soiled paper, waxed cardboard
Yes
20,875 tons
6,889 tons
6,200 tons
90% from participating facilities
80% from facilities participating in
composting program; 50% total solid waste
stream from all prisons
COSTS:
Average composting costs $34 per ton
Average avoided landfill hauling $125 per ton
and tipping fees
Net savings $91 per ton
* A dedicated employee is one whose primary responsibility is working with the food discard program.
TPY = tons per year
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