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

-------
    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

-------