Where to Send It?
Two main types of facilities will be needed to handle Milwaukee's food waste:
Redistribution facilities such as food banks, food trucks, free markets, soup kitchens, small business and non-profit reprocessors, etc.
Processing facilities such as composters, digesters, and vermicomposting.
Each type of facility will have different primary suppliers and markets around the city, so each type has different areas of Milwaukee that would suit them best. These maps identify those areas.
Redistribution facilities such as food banks, food trucks, free markets, soup kitchens, small business and non-profit reprocessors, etc.
Processing facilities such as composters, digesters, and vermicomposting.
Each type of facility will have different primary suppliers and markets around the city, so each type has different areas of Milwaukee that would suit them best. These maps identify those areas.
Food Redistribution Opportunity Zones:
- Combining the edible source maps with the food insecurity maps for Milwaukee, and cross referencing existing food bank locations, we identified target zones for new redistribution operations along the intersections of supply and demand.
- Within these zones, locations along public transportation routes or at/near hubs would be most effective.
Food Waste Processing Opportunity Zones:
- Combining large volume scrap source and population density maps, and cross-referencing existing compost and biodigestion locations, we identified target zones for new composting and digestion facilities
- Drainage stations for compost collection vehicles would improve efficiency
Food Redistribution Considerations:
High Volume Sources:
Low Volume Sources:
Compost and Digestion Considerations:
High Volume Sources:
Low Volume Sources:
Non-point Source Considerations:
High Volume Sources:
- Non-residential sources producing large volumes of food waste in steady, seasonal, and periodic patterns
- An intermediary is needed between the producers and recipients to store, repackage and distribute: food banks, soup kitchens, meals on wheels operation, or something else, like food trucks
- Typically non-profits, but can be supported through government programs and promotion, and use of applications such as Vivery, To Good to Go, Flash Food, and Food Cowboy
- Coordination between facilities increases efficiency
Low Volume Sources:
- Residential discards are low volume, widely dispersed, not easily packaged for redistribution nor made or stored consistent with health standards
- Food waste reduction education and applications such as Kitche, Nosh and No Waste are likely to be more effective solutions
- Infrastructure solutions are unlikely to be efficient means of redistribution. The most efficient redistribution options would be through food share apps such as Olio and Leftover Textover, as well as neighborhood and community building programs
Compost and Digestion Considerations:
High Volume Sources:
- Large point sources of inedible food are fewer than those of edible food, but their discard quantities are significant enough to drive logistical considerations
- The material can be split between composting, vermicomposting, large scale in-vessel composting, and biodigestion
- Composting requires large areas of open land, though aerated composting requires less land and more equipment
- Vermicomposting, in-vessel composting and digestion take up far less room, can be located in urban areas
- Government incentives such as TIFFs and zoning and regulation changes, business promotion and coordination could accelerate construction
- Biodigestion facilities will need significant utility cooperation to be sustainable
- Compost and vermicompost facilities need a sustainable outlet for their products. The compost produces would be a 155% increase over existing demand - new sources of large long term compost outlets will be needed
Low Volume Sources:
- Milwaukee won’t be able to make strides past a 50% food waste reduction without addressing residential sources
- Residential discards are low volume in rural areas and difficult to retrofit into high density buildings, making aggregation expensive
- Rural and suburban areas can process very small amounts of compost on their own properties, but not often all of their own food waste
Non-point Source Considerations:
- For urban residents, in-sink food processors can be utilized to a limited degree according to the MMSD
- Government and non-profit programs to support and maintain personal composting equipment can be effective, but will only handle a fraction of the potential waste
- Building codes could improve future buildings incorporation of waste diversion infrastructure, government programs can potentially have a faster and more significant impact than building codes
- A mix of solutions, including aggregated compost collection points, on-property processing, reduction, and individual collection services will be needed
