Zero Waste Pilot Program 2009 / Year Two Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original Expansion of enhanced recycling program to include compost and vendor compliance. Reflections, Summary & Recommendations for 2010 A cooperative project between: Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor Recycle Ann Arbor The City of Ann Arbor Author and Zero Waste Consultant to The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original Valerie Jenner, Sustainability Auditor Every Day Change Communications Ann Arbor, MI Photographer: Valerie Jenner unless stated. IF YOU ARE NOT FOR ZERO WASTE, HOW MUCH WASTE ARE YOU FOR? – ERIC LOMBARDI, MASTERMIND OF ECOCYCLE IN BOULDER COLORADO
Transcript
Zero Waste Pilot Program 2009 / Year Two
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original
Expansion of enhanced recycling program to include compost and vendor compliance.
Reflections, Summary
& Recommendations for 2010
A cooperative project between: Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original
The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor Recycle Ann Arbor
The City of Ann Arbor
Author and Zero Waste Consultant to The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original Valerie Jenner, Sustainability Auditor Every Day Change Communications
Ann Arbor, MI
Photographer: Valerie Jenner unless stated.
IF YOU ARE NOT FOR ZERO WASTE, HOW MUCH WASTE ARE YOU FOR?
– ERIC LOMBARDI, MASTERMIND OF ECOCYCLE IN BOULDER COLORADO
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original
Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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INTRODUCTION BY SHARY BROWN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR .................................................................... 4
THE EVENT ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original ................................................................................................................. 8 Purpose of the Enhanced Zero Waste Pilot .............................................................................................................. 8 Goals ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Background To The Zero Waste Pilot ....................................................................................................................... 9
EVENT BREAKDOWN...................................................................................................................................................... 10 The Townie Street Party........................................................................................................................................... 10 The Townie Street Party Summary .......................................................................................................................... 11 The Street Art Fair – The Original.......................................................................................................................... 12 The Street Art Fair 2009 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 13
COMPOST PROGRAM ...................................................................................................................................................... 24 Tuthill Farms ............................................................................................................................................................ 24
2009 WASTE MANAGEMENT OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................. 25 Dumpster Fill Capacity............................................................................................................................................ 26
RECYCLING FILL RATES ................................................................................................................................................ 27 Results ....................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Front Of House ......................................................................................................................................................... 29 Back Of House .......................................................................................................................................................... 29 Back Of House Bin Contents ................................................................................................................................... 30
GLITCHES AND SOLUTIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 31
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2010 ............................................................................................................................. 34
Leadership And Commitment................................................................................................................................... 35 Zero Waste Coordinator (ZWC) .............................................................................................................................. 35 Composting ............................................................................................................................................................... 36 Front Of House Recycling Stations ......................................................................................................................... 36 Volunteers ................................................................................................................................................................. 37 Community ................................................................................................................................................................ 38 Education .................................................................................................................................................................. 38
A REVIEW....................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Tenets of Zero Waste ................................................................................................................................................ 39
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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APPENDIX B .................................................................................................................................................................... 40
2007 Recycle Bin Station Placement Map .............................................................................................................. 40 2008 Bin Station Set-up Map ................................................................................................................................... 41 2009 Townie Street Party Bin Placement ............................................................................................................... 42 2009 Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original Recycling Bin Placement ......................................................... 43
The Difference Between Degradable And Biodegradable Plastics....................................................................... 45 Bioware Standards ................................................................................................................................................... 45
APPENDIX E .................................................................................................................................................................... 52
It is with great satisfaction that I write this introduction to the final report from the second phase
of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair’s Zero Waste Initiative. As executive director of the Ann Arbor
Street Art Fair for the past 11 years (with 10 years before that as the Art Fair Director of The
Guild’s Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair) it has been a challenging and exhilarating experience full
of change and opportunities. Yet, the focus of the Street Art Fair has been consistent over our 50
year history--it’s all about the quality and originality of the art and connecting the artists who
make the art with an appreciative audience and community. In addition to the Fair, five years
ago we launched The Townie Street Party, A Kick Off to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, which has
grown from about 1500 attendees to a major celebration hosting over 12,000 locals in only 4.5
hours this year.
Our longevity is based on being a leader locally, state wide, and nationally bringing benefit to the
local economy as well as the cultural and business climate of Ann Arbor and environs. The Zero
Waste Initiative is a perfect example of the type of collaborative project that is sustainable, on
the leading edge, and is valued by the participants and our community and has contributed to the
enduring success of the Street Art Fair. Even in these tough economic times the Fair has
succeeded by being relevant and thoughtful in its mission and operations and it has been my
pleasure to be apart of it all.
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is the Original of the four art fairs now comprising the Ann Arbor
Art Fairs, which take place for four days each July. These fairs collectively attract an audience
of one half a million and occupy nearly 30 blocks of downtown Ann Arbor.
The Street Art Fair started in 1960 on South University Avenue as a complement to Summer
Bargain Days organized by the area merchant associations. The Art Fair quickly became a major
event in the community and garnered national attention. Over the years additional fairs were
added in the other shopping districts (State Street and Main Street) and adjacent to the University
of Michigan’s central campus (State Street). With the Fairs drawing more than a 1000 artists and
large numbers of visitors, collaborative logistical planning became essential and the Mayor’s
Committee on Art Fairs was established as the coordinating body. So each fair not only plans
it’s own event it also works with the other fairs, the city and the university and a number of other
entities to ensure the events are run in a safe, thoughtful and efficient manner. Recycling at least
a portion of the waste generated by this large scale event has been undertaken by the fairs, with
varying levels of achievement, for nearly 20 years.
Following the successful relocation of the Street Art Fair from the South University area to
North University, Thayer and Washington in 2003, long range planning began for the 50th
anniversary. One of the three goals for the 50th annual Ann Arbor Street Art Fair in 2009 was
pursuing sustainability, both financially and environmentally.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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A number of factors provided the basis of the Zero Waste Initiative’s achievements. First is
passion and commitment, particularly from the Initiative’s leaders, to carry the endeavor beyond
the inevitable barriers encountered. Next is finding the right partners and third is enlisting the
dedicated cast of characters to play each role. The final factor in our success was having a
reasonable operational plan, built in stages, and incorporating as much of the existing operational
structure as is possible.
The willingness of the Street Art Fair to undertake the Zero Waste Initiative as a pilot project for
local events wanting to use the system in their own event production brought support from the
Ecology Center, Recycle Ann Arbor, the City of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Area Community
Foundation. In the second year the Special Ops Crew, the people who implement the program
on site, hired from Dawn Farm and the Delonis Center primarily, and led by Dawn Farm
counselor, Charles Coleman, was awarded an employment grant from the Washtenaw County
ETCS program. The Initiative also received support from Toyota. So the project leveraged both
government and corporate support, covering the costs of operations in a difficult economy.
Along with the crew are the project managers and volunteers. Shary Brown, Executive Director
and Aaron Gold, Programs Manager developed the program with Valerie Jenner, first as a
volunteer from the Ecology Center and then as a consultant along with city staff, Tom
McMurtrie and Nancy Stone, Ecology Center leader, Mike Garfield, Melissa Uerling from
Recycle Ann Arbor. A host of volunteers from the Ecology Center, Sierra Club and the Street
Art Fair’s loyal volunteer group supplemented the work done at the Fair by the Special Ops
Crew. There are many more staff members and volunteers at each of these organizations who
made a significant contribution to the planning and implementation of the two year launch of the
Zero Waste Initiative and warrant our thanks as well.
Current trends in art also reflect the participating artists’ interest in reuse, repurposing and in
using their creative voice to urge a sustainable environment. The Fair has developed a number
of educational and interactive art programs focusing use of recycled and digital materials both
cutting costs and underscoring the Zero Waste Initiative. Our audience expected Ann Arbor’s
premiere event to have an innovative and forward thinking mode of operation and participated
without the massive volunteer effort we expected would be necessary. So with support from our
participants and attendees, the project has been an amazing and rewarding success.
We are pleased to contribute a sustainable methodology for event logistics to our community for
use by any event wishing to employ these standards in their operations and that this report,
coupled with the 2008 reports, will provide a blueprint for success.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Glossary Back of House Located in low traffic areas away from the main attractions.
Recycling and trash are consolidated for bulk pick-up into large dumpsters. Accessible primarily by waste management crews.
Biodegradable Plastics #6
Petroleum based products containing degradable additives may take 10 instead of 1000 years to degrade in anaerobic (landfill) environments. Many are not recommended for commercial compost sites. Each product needs to be verified for compostability and biodegradability levels. This labeling is currently under review due to its lack of clarity on product end of life.
Compost Items that break down into beneficial nutrients for healthy plants and soil with microbial assistance in a short period of time.
100% Compost Product Label
Manmade items that will degrade into fundamental nutrients with microbial assistance, that can support healthy plant growth and beneficial to soil.
Cradle to Cradle
Cyclical motion of creation to recreation of consumer goods through smart design, eliminating waste streams that remain stagnant over time and cause harm, waste energy and money. End of product life imitates nature and can be repurposed over and over, bypassing the landfill or incineration.
Cradle to Grave
Using natural resources to create products without consideration of end of life. Usually ending up in the waste stream.
Dumpster Large 6 cubic yard bins designated for trash or large cardboard collection. Other sizes are available but were not used in this project.
Front of House Located in high traffic public areas of the festival or event. Waste and recycling bins are smaller and in greater numbers than back of house.
MRF Materials Recovery Facility (pronounced “Murf”). A large recycling facility, where material is sorted for resale.
Recycling Stations
Located in areas accessible to the public in high traffic areas. Consisting of three to four bins to offer recycling options to art fair participants.
Special Operations Crew (Special Ops)
Special Operations crew were paid temporary staff that provided assistance where needed around the fair, from set-up, to waste management to tear down.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Plastic
Recycle Symbols
Before recycling, plastics are sorted according to their resin identification code, a method of categorization of polymer types, which was developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry in 1988.1
(polyethylene terephthalate) PET plastic is the most common for single-use bottled beverages, because it is inexpensive, lightweight and easy to recycle. It poses low risk of leaching breakdown products. Recycling rates remain relatively low (around 20%), though the material is in high demand by remanufacturers. Bottle shape collected in A2 – expansion under review
(high density polyethylene) HDPE is a versatile plastic with many uses, especially for packaging. It carries low risk of leaching and is readily recyclable into many goods. Bottle shape collected in A2 – expansion under review
(polypropylene) Polypropylene has a high melting point, and so is often chosen for containers that must accept hot liquid. It is gradually becoming more accepted by recyclers. Not collected by the City of Ann Arbor but can be taken to Whole Foods and Bgreen for recycling into Preserve plastics. Under review in Ann Arbor
(polystyrene) Polystyrene can be made into rigid or foam products -- in the latter case it is popularly known as the trademark Styrofoam. Evidence suggests polystyrene can leach potential toxins into foods. The material was long on environmentalists' hit lists for dispersing widely across the landscape, and for being notoriously difficult to recycle. Most places still don't accept it, though it is gradually gaining traction.
Miscellaneous A wide variety of plastic resins that don't fit into the previous categories are lumped into number 7. A few are even made from plants (polyactide, PLA) and are compostable. Polycarbonate is also number 7, and is the hard plastic that has parents worried these days, after studies have shown it can leach potential hormone disruptors.
To add a new and enlightened flair to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original, during it’s 50th anniversary in 2009.
To further lower the Art Fairs’ environmental footprint and embrace the sustainable lifestyle of cradle-to-cradle product lifecycle instead of cradle-to-grave waste management practices commonly accepted.
Goals
1. To expand 2008 zero waste pilot program of enhanced recycling to include compost capture.
2. Replacement of Styrofoam and petroleum plastics among food vendors with compostable disposable tableware.
3. Minimize bottled water by installing city water fountains and providing refillable bottles.
4. To maximize amount of resources captured from the landfill and move a close as possible to zero waste.
5. To practice a progressive movement of festivals and events in Ann Arbor to do the right thing in eliminating unnecessary and outdated waste management practices.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Background To The Zero Waste Pilot
Shary Brown, Executive Director of The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original, felt it essential to implement an enhanced recycling program starting in 2006. This was to reflect the organization 's commitment to the green initiatives of the city. In turn elevating the Art Fair to being less intrusive on the environment through innovative and energized programs. The Zero Waste Compost pilot was to be an additional showcase during the 50th anniversary of The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original.
Reducing the Street Art Fair ' s environmental footprint and carbon emissions has been in effect for many years before the zero waste pilot.
o Music generators are powered with biodiesel. o Almost all cardboard and art materials are recycled. o Vinyl banners, signage, tent poles and many other elements are reused. o A bottle-recycling program recycled 70,000 bottles in 2007.
Looking for ways to further expand The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original recycling program Shary asked Mike Garfield, Director of The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, to assist in researching and developing a program for 2008. She wanted the program to be coupled with developing community art projects, to reflect the recycle-reuse mentality. Mike suggested the fair should strive for zero waste. In the Fall of 2007 Recycle Ann Arbor and the City of Ann Arbor joined the project. Lacey Doucet, Ecology Center Community Organizer, asked Valerie Jenner, a volunteer researcher and writer, if she would put together a report on Zero Waste Festivals and Events.
The project developed into a pilot program to determine if zero waste was achievable and feasible and could be used by the remaining three art fairs and other interested festivals and events in the City of Ann Arbor. The full launch of the Zero Waste program would also be an added attraction to the Street Art Fair 's 50th anniversary in 2009 should the pilot be successful.
Valerie’s report would provide the guidance in order to make it feasible to implement a project that summer. The Ecology Center and Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation grant) were able to provide a stipend to Valerie to further make recommendations and remain as consultant to the project. The project also involved working with the City of Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan, and Recycle Ann Arbor to fully implement the zero waste pilot.
Shary and her assistant, Aaron Gold, Programs Coordinator, worked hard to implement the best Zero Waste pilot possible. While there a few frustrating glitches, it was an easy learning curve with exceptional results.
The program continued in 2009, introducing biocompostable tableware at food vendor stands backed by a composting program, public water fountains and refillable water bottles. Concepts, ideas and practices and very possibly expanding into all festivals and events held in Ann Arbor and Michigan.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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"Courtesy of MLive" photo by Peter Leix ' 09
'TSP' photo by Peter Leix '09
Event Breakdown
The annual Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original has two distinct events: The Townie Street Party and the Street Art Fair – The Original.
The Townie Street Party
Monday July 13, 2009
5:00 – 9:30pm
Monday before the Art Fair:
In only its fifth year, the Townie Street Party has grown to become an event in it’s own right. Originally meant to provide a bridge and renewed connection for Ann Arborites who sometimes feel distanced and overwhelmed by the massive art fair. The Townie Street Party has become an exciting annual festival for locals.
The Townie Street Party is strictly focused on all things local and is organized to accommodate specialized activities featuring local musicians, community partners and cultural organizations, Michigan brewed beer, and city food vendors ensure the unique feel of community.
Over the past five years, The Townie Street Party has grown from a single row of large tents in one area to the full length of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair grounds. This year’s event hosted over 12,000 attendees up from 7,000 in 2008, in an only four and a half hour event.
The Townie Street Party was the focus of the Zero Waste Compost pilot. Food vendors all agreed contractually to provide biocompostable tableware at their food stands. Biocompostable tableware was supplied by the art fair in the hospitality and beer tents guaranteeing a high level of quality control. The Hospitality and Beer tent provided a controlled and distinct area that could control waste collection completely. Compost bins were also placed in open environments; volunteers manned all stations.
The compostable tableware (cups, cutlery, napkins) and food goods were collected in compost bins and taken to a farm that specializes in composting. (See Pg.8)
To reduce the number of plastic water bottles needing recycling, public water fountains were provided by the city. These fountains tapped into the fire hydrant system providing multiple access sites. Boy Scouts sold refillable metal water bottles to artists and attendees.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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2009 Summary
The Townie Street Party Summary
Mon. July 13 (5PM – 9:30PM)
The weather was sunny and comfortably warm.
Attendance increased from an estimate of over 7,000 in 2008 to 12,000,over the four and a half hour event.
All recycling stations were established prior to this event and were repositioned for the Street Art Fair (see maps Appendix B). Compost bins were concentrated in the beer and hospitality tents and close to food vendors. Some were placed around the gardens where diners may congregate.
After The Townie Street Party 2 out of 3 trash dumpsters back of house were filled to capacity. The empty trash dumpster was used to store the compostable items. This year the fourth bin was dedicated to cardboard recycling collection and was overflowing.
Over 95% of all items in the beer tent and the Gold Tent were recyclable, reuseable or compostable. 1,600 16oz. biocompostable beer corn plastic glasses were collected for composting. Volunteers directed attendees to deposit their food and all tableware to the compost bins. Estimated landfill diversion rates from The Townie Street Party would have been at approximately 95%, except for a few glitches. The amount of compost collected would have half filled a 6 cubic yard dumpster. 2 (Glitches Pg.22)
To see a breakdown of ratio of between volunteer manned stations and volumes of compost collected see page 15.
Five of the seven vendors fully complied with the compostable tableware components. Vendors brought food in reusable metal or tin foil containers. One made an effort but was mislead by confusing labeling. One vendor did not understand the program and provided mixed compostable and petroleum products. Confusion of labeling of biodegradable and compostable of products caused some confusion. See Glitches.
Uncompostable and unrecyclable items were ice cream containers and tops, potato chip bags3, toothpicks with cellophane tops, biodegradable petroleum based plates.
2 Based on consensus by the volunteers and final tally of biobags.
3 Frito Lay SunChips has announced it is beginning to use residential compostable bioplastics for
their chip bags now. http://www.sunchips.com/healthier_planet.shtml 8/11/09 10:08 PM
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The Street Art Fair – The Original
Wed. July 15 - Sat. July 19,2009
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original along with the three other art fairs host 500,000 attendees over four days. The current recession did not seem to affect overall attendance at any of the art fairs. Based on surveys artist’s sales were not affected.
This year there was a unique problem put upon The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original. On-site maintenance of the underground tunnels at the University of Michigan, limited the size and scope of the fair by removing the southern mall access. This reduced the number of artists’ spaces available to the fair.
Food vendors and music tents were spread throughout the Original Art Fair along with the 145 juried artists. Informational and educational booths also line the fair.
The Art Fair’s enhanced recycling stations were re-established in the same manner as 2008, to maximize capture for the recycling of nonfood items, paper, cans, bottles and cardboard.
Zero Waste (Compost collection) continued only at events during the art fair that had vendor compliance agreements and where they could provide the biocompostable materials. The Artists Hospitality tent was one of these events. Announcements were made to visitors to the tent by program coordinator Aaron Gold to raise awareness of the compostable nature of the tableware and the special bins dedicated to their collection.
Food vendors during art fair were not all contracted through the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - The Original, and a compostable tableware agreement was not issued to vendors contracted by other organizers. The variation of compostable tableware and standard plastics and Styrofoam would be too difficult to separate and the compost pilot was limited to events that were compliant and where contamination was completely controllable.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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The Street Art Fair 2009 Summary
Wed. – Fri. July 15-18 (7AM – 9PM) Sat. July 19 (10AM-6PM) The weather was sunny and comfortable
Attendance is estimated at around 500,000 for the combined four fairs.
An approximation assumed at least 250,000 attended the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – the Original, it is difficult to get an actual count but attendance was not affected by the current recession.
Observations:
During the Art Fair the cardboard recycling 6 cubic yard dumpster was always overflowing. The 30-gallon front of house paper recycling bins were emptied throughout each day.
23 x 96-gallon rolling bottle and can recycling bins on average were not full to capacity on any day.
Possible Reasons:
• A cool summer
• Refillable bottles sold at fair
• Refillable bottles (brought by attendees and artists)
• City water fountains made available
• Independent Recycling Entrepreneurs (IRA)
Are all credited with the reduced number of bottles and cans collected for recycling.
Monitoring contamination of the trash bins revealed that cardboard collection can still be improved but there was little if any contamination of other collectable recyclable items in the landfill bound dumpsters.
The number of trash dumpsters was reduced from 4 in 2008 to 3 this year and only 2 were regularly filled to capacity with no overflow during the entire art fair.
A very clean site was observed by the author and commented as such by the Special Ops crew and attendees.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Volunteers
The Ecology Center and Recycle Ann Arbor recruited 11 Green Team Volunteers to participate in the Zero Waste program for a four-hour shift at the Townie Street Party.
Volunteers’ ages ranged from 12-45 and the experience of volunteers in Zero Waste ranged from none to expert. The Ecology Center Volunteer Coordinator and Residential Recycling Coordinator from Recycle Ann Arbor also took part.
All were provided with a volunteer t-shirt and certificate of participation from the Street Art Fair. The Green Team was given an information sheet on Zero Waste, and any questions were answered to ensure confidence when answering patrons’ questions.
A tour of each food vendor station was conducted before stations were dedicated. Many of the vendors had made efforts to comply with biocompostable standards, Five out of seven fully complied, one tried but was misinformed by the supplier and confusing labeling of biodegradable vs. compostable, and one did not understand the requirements and used standard paper plates and regular plastic cutlery.
Each volunteer was able to identify compost material from non and instruct patrons to the appropriate bins.
Each volunteer was encouraged to give feedback from themselves and patrons on their observations and suggestions for next year.
Note:
The 2008 Zero Waste Pilot did not involve compost and even with few volunteers to educate the public, signage was clear and patrons did an outstanding job sorting waste without guidance into the appropriate bin.
Adding compost to the program was a new element most are unfamiliar with and compostable dishware was new to most patrons and vendors. This year the volunteers were invaluable to the success of the program, without them educating attendees and directing the items to the appropriate bins, bin contamination would have been high and the program would have failed.
A clear difference in bin contamination could be noted in areas constantly supervised and those where the volunteers floated attending several areas. Constantly supervised stations had better control over contamination levels. (See Table 1)
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Volunteer Information Sheet
Street Townie Party 13 July 2009
Thank you for volunteering. We can’t do it without you! Please let us know where you want your certificate of participation sent.
Address: ___________________________________________________________ OR Email: _____________________________________________________________ What is zero waste?
“Instead of managing wastes, we will manage resources and strive to eliminate waste." - Institute for Local Self Reliance (Wash DC)
What is the difference between biodegradable and compostable? Biodegradable products break into smaller and smaller pieces of itself often never dissolving into productive nutrients.
Compostable products require three criteria: 1. Biodegrade - break down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass at the same rate as cellulose (paper). 2. Disintegrate - the material is indistinguishable in the compost, not visible or need to be screened out. 3. Eco-toxicity - the biodegradation does not produce any toxic material and the compost can support plant growth.
Product Made of Manufactured
in Fair Trade Composts in*
Bagasse Sugar Cane China From BGreen 30-90 days Cutlery and
Straws Corn / Potato USA From BGreen 90-180 days
Cups Corn USA Yes 90-180 days * Based on commercial facilities, residential composters take 2-3x longer.
Is the compost actually being composted? Yes, local farm, soil and compost professionals Tuthill Farms in South Lyon, MI are composting all the compostable tableware and food waste. Recycle Ann Arbor is assisting in the program.
Please add your feedback and patron feedback on back of sheet
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Volunteer Placement Map
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Table 1: 2009 Correlation Of Volunteer Attendance To Compost Contamination Levels
Area 1.
Food Vendors
2. Food
Vendors
3. Eating Area /
Garden
4. Fenced Beer
Tent
5. Fenced
Hospitality Tent
# Compost Stations
1 3 4 3 3
# Volunteers
2 2 2 3 3
Volunteer Commitment
Level High
High Rotation
Low Rotation
High High
Level of Control Med Poor Poor High High Collection
Rates High Low Low High High
Contamination High High High 2 clean /1
unacceptable Nil
The younger volunteers together as support and to keep them engaged. Adults manned the alcohol areas independently and were within site of each other. Breaks were given based on individual needs.
Observations:
1. All patrons were able to recycle bottles, cans and paper, normally at the recycling stations without direction and those contamination levels were low.
2. Composting is a new program and compostable tableware a new concept that needed constant intervention by the volunteers to prevent it from being tossed in the landfill containers.
3. Bin contamination was kept low by isolating compostables to the correct container only in isolated well-controlled areas, which were individually manned by an adult volunteer.
4. The fenced areas provided only compostable tableware and this made the direction of patrons much easier. The few items not compostable (toothpicks with cellophane tips) need to be avoided unless the acceptable by the composter.
5. Rotation of volunteers between bin stations was educational for patrons they were able to instruct but overall an unmanned compost station was not viable.
6. Adult volunteers were better able to get the attention of the patrons to direct them to the correct bin.
7. Commitment level of the volunteers needs to be high to succeed and 9 of11 volunteers in this program were highly motivated to promote the composting program.
8. Offer of a certificate of participation enticed many more volunteers to sign up than last year when only one came for a single two-hour shift.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Volunteer Feedback
To improve compostable program next year:
1. Lack of clear signage was a major impediment to success.
2. Need bold easily read signage for all bins
3. Water easily accessible to volunteers needed.
4. All Vendor items brought to fair need to be checked and approved by composter ahead of time, to eliminate any confusion and maintain consistency.
5. Physical Samples taped or nailed to bins to identify acceptable content
6. Bin arrangement was not conclusive to a successful program – compost bins were the same as the trash bins
7. Bin station need to be rearranged.
8. Consistency in bin type important: Paper / Container and Compost bins should be 96 gallon rolling bins with appropriate top
9. Garbage bin needs to be smaller/different from and not together but near zero waste bins with clear signage that this is going to the landfill.
10. Clear fun signage at food vendors and beer tent informing people in line that the tableware is made of sugar, potato and corn to raise awareness while they wait for service.
11. In beer tent one compost bin station had a lot of problems.
a. It was located in a tight corner of a tent that got very busy so patrons just threw their tableware and cups in the first bin they could reach.
b. The banner over the bins was in the view of the music tent and was disassembled removing the identifying labels of each bin.
c. The bins were then moved to the fence line that separated the hospitality tent from the beer tent (clearer space)
d. The bins were removed again when the hospitality tent service ended and the barrier between them was removed to accommodate the growing beer tent patrons.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Special Operations Crew
The Special Ops crew is temporarily employed staff by the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original for the duration of the Art Fair and The Townie Street Party. Recruited as a community service from Dawn Farm and the Delonis Shelter. 24 Special Ops crewmembers daily rotate around The Street Art Fair and perform different tasks on different shifts over six days. The crew is supervised by a social worker on site. One shift includes maintaining trash and recycling stations. Specially designed brightly colored t-shirts easily identified the crew
Feedback from the Special Ops crew was very similar to last year although many were new to the program. They preferred the enhanced recycling system and stated it made their jobs easier and cleaner. Special Ops crews were fundamental in controlling contamination and site cleanliness and did an exceptional job.
Recycling bin stations were regularly monitored and never got to the point of overflowing.
Special Ops crews were directed to not sort contaminated bins for health and safety reasons.
They observed that there was little contamination; people independently made a point of ensuring items were placed in correct bins.
The compost pilot was not clearly understood by the crew. Time restrictions made it difficult to communicate the added program to all the crew. Confusion over where to put the bags of compost was the biggest problem. Originally the bins were planned to be 96 gallon rolling bins that would be rolled to a central pick-up location but they were substituted with standard trashcans at the last minute. Because the bins filled up quickly inside the hospitality and beer tents, they needed to be removed and refreshed. A decision was made to place the full bags in a trash dumpster at the North University pick-up because the third dumpster was completely empty. Special biocompostable bags were used in the compost bins and were in limited stock and expensive. This was difficult to provide bags at all times to the many different locations, but the crews made best efforts for consistency.
Overall the special Operations Crew managed the pilot program well despite the glitches and contamination levels in the dumpsters were limited. (See Glitches)
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Vendors
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original, manages all The Street Townie Party food vendors. All vendors agreed contractually to use bio-compostable tableware products and to separate food compost this year that were contracted by the Street Art Fair. The Street Art Fair in exchange for donated food and to maintain quality control provided the biocompostable tableware in the beer and hospitality tents.
Vendor Feedback
Sales
All food vendor reported satisfactory sales in 2009. Availability of Compostable Tableware
1. Biocompostable tableware was easy to find with the opening of BGreen on South Industrial.
2. Gordon’s Food also carried some compostable products but not a full line. Plates offered were biodegradable #6 plastic recycling code made with petroleum base designed for landfill degradation.
Cost
1. Prices between the two suppliers were reported as comparable by most vendors. One vendor found bioware sample spoons considerably more expensive but still bought them to participate.
2. The price of the compostable tableware was reported as slightly higher but not a deterrent to participating in the program.
Satisfaction Five of the seven vendors said they were satisfied with the pilot and the compostable products and look forward to next year. The sixth vendor was bound by large corporation policies to use products in their preferred vendor list and found the one item they needed costly but looks forward to next year and would comply again. The seventh did not fully understand the pilot and did not comply but is willing to try again next year. Continuation of Bioware into standard business practices.
Three of the vendors have expressed interest in procuring compostable tableware into daily operations based on this experience.
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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Monday, July 13th, 2009 5:00pm-9:30pm Under the Big Tents on North University (between Fletcher & Thayer)
FOOD VENDOR CONTRACT
Thank you for participating in the Fifth-Ever Townie Street Party, a kick-off celebration to the 50
th
Anniversary Street Art Fair, the Original. Please review the contract details and sign and date below. Food Vendor agrees to:
FOOD VENDOR shall sell food and/or beverages, as identified in a menu approved by the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (AASAF), at the TOWNIE STREET PARTY (TSP) on July 13, 2009, at a site location to be determined by AASAF. FOOD VENDOR must staff and keep open its assigned service area between the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm on July 13, 2009. Any exception to these hours must be approved in advance by AASAF.
FOOD VENDOR shall pay vendor fee of $300.00, via check made payable to “Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Inc.”, upon signing this agreement.
FOOD VENDOR shall comply with our Zero Waste standards – please see Food Vendor Zero Waste Contract Addendum for details.
FOOD VENDOR shall furnish business name and logo to AASAF prior to May 29, 2009 in order to receive full benefits detailed below.
FOOD VENDOR shall obtain and adequately display all necessary permits from the City of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County and the State required to participate in this event. FOOD VENDOR must fully comply with all applicable Federal, State and local laws, including laws and regulations relating to permits required to carry on the food service activities contemplated under this agreement, including but not limited to the registration of any required retail licenses, the collection of State Sales and Use Tax, and the payment of collected monies tax laws and guidelines issued by the Michigan Department of the Treasury.
FOOD VENDOR is responsible for the cost of securing all food, beverages, and supplies necessary to participate in this event.
FOOD VENDOR is solely responsible for the set-up, break-down and clean-up of its assigned space. On the day of the event and at the direction of AASAF, FOOD VENDOR set up shall occur between the hours of 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM, and FOOD VENDOR break-down and clean-up shall occur between the hours of 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM, leaving its assigned space in good condition.
FOOD VENDOR agrees to work respectfully and responsively with the AASAF o To ensure the selling of vendor products is not harmful to the nearby artwork o To ensure the area around the vendor space is cleanly maintained
FOOD VENDOR agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold the AASAF, its officers, agents, volunteers and employees harmless with respect to any claim of any type arising out of FOOD VENDOR’s agreement to participate in this event, and acknowledges that AASAF, and its
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Zero Waste Pilot – Year Two
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officers, agents, volunteers and employers shall not be held liable for any resulting loss or damage to FOOD VENDOR’s supplies or goods.
FOOD VENDOR shall secure and maintain general commercial liability, including contractual liability and product liability insurance with a limit of $1,000,000.00, automobile liability with an adequate limit, and workers’ compensation per statutory requirements for FOOD VENDOR’s participation in this event, naming AASAF as an additional insured. FOOD VENDOR shall provide a certificate of insurance evidencing all required coverage to AASAF no later than July 1, 2009.
Food Vendor receives:
A designated site, approximately 10’ x 20’ on the Party street to conduct the above described food service activities
FOOD VENDOR’S business name on the TSP volunteer t-shirt FOOD VENDOR’S business logo on the TSP annual promotional poster FOOD VENDOR’S business link/logo on TSP web page FOOD VENDOR’S business logo on 4 prominently placed Thank You Boards at the Party Approved use of The Townie Street Party’s name/logo in FOOD VENDOR’S media
The TOWNIE STREET PARTY will take place rain or shine! No refunds will be granted to FOOD VENDOR in the event of cancellation. AASAF reserves the right to determine the dimensions and location of FOOD VENDOR’s designated site, and to adjust and modify these arrangements as AASAF determines necessary. Accepted by: AASAF: FOOD VENDOR: ______________________________ ______________________________ Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Inc. By: __________________ Date: ____ By: __________________ Date: _____ Its:_____________________________ Its:_____________________________
Please provide the following information: Business Name_______________________________ Address_______________ City, Zip _________
Fax Number _________________________________ Email__________________________________
Website ____________________________________
Detail exactly how name/logo should appear: ________________________________________________
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation.
Your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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2009 Enhanced Zero Waste Program
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FOOD VENDOR ZERO WASTE CONTRACT ADDENDUM
Zero Waste Pilot Program
Zero Waste is the principles and practices that work towards shifting our economy and culture away from one that sends everything off to the landfill to one that sends almost nothing there. This means redesigning products that can be recycled or composted more easily, which reduces needless waste.
The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and Townie Street Party are in the second year of a two year Zero Waste Pilot Program. In 2008, we implemented a new recycling program with 23 Recycle Stations, collecting 8.67 tons of recyclable waste, resulting in a 41% landfill diversion rate. In 2009, we are implementing composting and bulk water delivery programs to further reduce the amount of waste we send to the landfill. For the 2009 Townie Street Party, Food Vendors must comply with our Zero Waste goals in the following ways:
1. All food must be served on fully biodegradable and compostable tableware and silverware. Petroleum based plastic and Styrofoam are not allowed on site.
2. All plates, bowls, cups, take out food containers, utensils and napkins must be made out of either PLA plastic made from corn, Plastarch Material (PSM) a biodegradable resin made from corn, potato starch resin, or bagasse made from sugar cane fibers.
3. Inform your patrons that you are serving your food on compostable table wear and ask them to dispose of all compostables and food waste in the proper receptacles.
4. If you sell commercially packaged beverages in plastic or glass bottles (ie. juice, pop) they must be recyclable. Please ask your patrons to recycle these materials at one of our blue recycle stations.
5. Dispose of food preparation waste in Food Vendor compost receptacles to be picked up at the end of the night by Street Art Fair staff.
6. Do not throw away any back of house supplies that could be recycled. All paper, glass bottles and recyclable plastic must be recycled at one of our blue recycle stations. Please flatten and stack all cardboard and Street Art Fair staff will pick it up after the event.
7. We will provide each Food Vendor with a Zero Waste info-sheet to be displayed in each Food Vendor booth to help with patron education.
Gordon Food Service 5% Commercial Discount: through a partnership with the Street Art Fair, Gordon Food Service will give a 5% commercial discount to all vendors ordering supplies to be used at either the Townie Street Party or Street Art Fair. When you make an order, let Brad Webster, Manager of the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti location on 3800 Carpenter Rd. know that you are participating in one of our events.
Thank you for your cooperation – we’re very excited to move even closer to becoming a Zero Waste Event!
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2009 Enhanced Zero Waste Program
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Compost Program
Tuthill Farms
The Tuthill family has been farming in Green Oak Township of Livingston County Michigan since 1833.4 Traditionally they raised, trained and boarded horses, produced crops, dairy products, hogs, poultry and beef on their 185-acre farm. Surrounded by urban development in Livingston County the Tuthill’s recognized an opportunity in a 1995 yard waste ban.
According to Sandra Tuthill, co-owner of Tuthill Farms, Michigan is a prime location to create compost. During winter the additional water from melted snow assists in keeping the developing compost moist and active. Summer time provides warm temperatures that can aid in raising compost to over 170 degrees, depending on rainfall.
The Tuthill’s recognized a business opportunity turning organic waste into compost that could be used as a soil amendment for crops. For over 30 years their crops have mostly been grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. Compost is spread on their fields and on rented land to produce hay, corn, and oats.
Located only 14 miles from Ann Arbor, they have started to accept biocompostable tableware and foodstuffs from the Ross School of business and agreed to take the compostables of the Ann Arbor Street Fair.
Steve Sheldon of Recycle Ann Arbor agreed to deliver the compostables to Tuthill Farms.
When starch based tableware and food waste is received, a loader is used to open up a core of yard waste that is approx. 165 degrees. High temperatures assist in breaking down the materials in 1 week or more depending on moisture levels and frequency of turning the pile. Decomposed wastes are then sifted or screened and cured. Finished compost resembles black soil and is used as a soil amendment. Compost produced at the Tuthill Farms is an average of 2 years old.
Composting concerns
Contamination was a prime concern of Tuthill Farms and any contaminated bags would be refused and sent back with the delivery to be land filled.
Compostables were collected in compostable corn based plastic biobags.
4 http://www.tuthillfarms.com 7/17/09 4:36 PM
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2009 Waste Management Observations
Day One Set-up
Recycling Stations
Photographer: Valerie Jenner
Recycling Stations consisted of: 1 x 96-gallon rolling bins with specialized opening in the top for paper collection, 2 x 36-gallon blue barrel for trash with no top and paper with slotted top, 2 x cement filled buckets with tube base for poles, 2 x bamboo poles, signifying renewable wood sources 1 x recycled vinyl banner (from student events) painted with recycling items over
each bin and an arrow pointing down to respective bin. Banners were held on by biodegradable string. Each container had a written sign identifying desired contents. The trash was lined
with standard plastic bags, no lining was used for the others. Compost Stations had an additional
1 x 36-gallon blue bin with no lid placed away from the trash bin. These were lined with Biobags made of compostable corn.
Bin placement maps from 2007 to present can be found in Appendix B.
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Dumpster Fill Capacity
Table 2: Back of House Landfill
Landfill / Trash 2007 2008 2009
Dumpsters Base line
# Of Bins 4 4 3
Bin Size Cubic Yd 6 6 6
Trash Over Flow? Yes No No
Bin Add? 1 0 -1
Total Real 5 4 2
% Street Party Mon. 100 100 65
% Art Fair – The Original Wed. 100 75 65
% Art Fair – The Original Thurs. 100 65 65
% Art Fair – The Original Fri. 100 75 65
% Art Fair – The Original Sat. 100 65 65
Avg. % 100 70 65
Total dumpsters Landfilled 25 15 10
Total dumpsters Diverted - 10 15
Change from 2007 % - 41% 60%
Change from 2008 % - - 15%
Tons Landfilled 50 30 20
Tons 5 Diverted 0 20 30
2007 All 4 x 6 cubic yard trash dumpsters were utilized, with trash bags overflowing each night. It was assumed that there was enough trash daily to necessitate 5 x 6 cubic yard dumpsters nightly.
2008 Zero Waste pilot, 2.5 trash dumpsters out of 5 were filled on four days and filled to capacity for only one. All recycling bins were full to maximum daily. A lot of cardboard contamination was noted. 10 x 6 cubic yd. dumpsters were diverted from landfill. Our estimate of weights based on visual inspection of the bin contents suggests that 7 tons were diverted from 2007.
2009, Zero Waste Pilot Yr.2, only 2 out of 3 dumpsters held trash. One dumpster was empty. The empty dumpster was used to hold compost bags collected during the Townie Street Party that was attended by 12,000 people, up from 7,500 in 2008.
The 15 dumpster loads diverted from a maximum of 25 over the five day event equals a 60% landfill diversion rate in the second year pilot program. This is excluding the bottles and cans recycled by Independent Recycling Entrepreneurs (IRE), which did occur.
When the cardboard dumpster was full, the excess cardboard was placed outside of the dumpster at the request of the city. Excess cardboard was noted outside of the cardboard dumpster every night leading to the conclusion that a second designated 6 cubic cardboard-only dumpster needs to be implemented in 2010.
5 Numbers are approximate and maximum. There is no weight quantification available from the city of Ann Arbor but Recycle Ann Arbor did
provide approximations for different weights. 6 cubic yards =1212 gallons =12.5 96 gallon bins x ~184 lbs/96 gallon container = 2.335 tons per
dumpster. For this report I based dumpster tonnage at 2 tons/dumpster. A little less than the quantification/96 gallon rolling bin. http://www.asknumbers.com/cubic-yard-to-gallon.aspx 8/17/09 4:01 PM
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Recycling Fill Rates
Table 3: Cart Fill Rates
2009 ART FAIR RECYCLING FILL RATES & WEIGHTS
Paper Date Fill Weight/Bin 6 cubic yd Total Total
% Lbs Dumpster Lbs. Tons
Includes July 13/09 125% 1000 1 1500 0.75
Cardboard, magazines, July 15/09 150% 1000 1 1800 0.90
flyers, maps, and misc. July 16/09 125% 1000 1 1500 0.75
Cardboard July 17/09 150% 1000 1 1800 0.90
was largest % July 18/09 150% 1000 1 1800 0.90
Total Collected 8400 4.20
Containers Date Fill Weight/Bin # Of 96 Gallon Total Total
% Lbs Bins Full Lbs. Tons
Includes: July 13/09 100% 125 23 125 0.06
Plastic pop and water July 15/09 74% 125 17 2125 1.06
bottles, cans July 16/09 100% 125 23 2875 1.44
July 17/09 50% 125 10 1281 0.64
Very little glass July 18/09 35% 125 7 875 0.44
Total Collected 7281 3.64
Total Landfill Diversion 12,881 7.84
Weights based on:
Paper Dumpster 6 cubic yd. 800 Based on how much cardboard
/Cardboard Dumpster 6 cubic yd. 800 Full of office paper
Containers Full cart 96 gallons 150-200 With a lot of glass
Full cart 96 gallons 75 Plastic bottles only
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Quantification
Assumed weights across the board of 125 lbs./ 96-gallon container bin were used as no true weights were available. Estimates were based on visual inspection, pictures of bin contents and understood averages for particular content by both Recycle Ann Arbor and this researcher. The percentages provided in Table #3, are from Recycle Ann Arbor and observation.
No accurate landfill diversion can be noted due to a lack of real quantifiable tonnage. Almost all Zero Waste events reviewed in the preliminary report around the country and internationally, have been able to document tonnage diverted by adding actual recycling tonnage to the total weight of trash land filled and dividing for a percentage. This researcher has been assured that Ann Arbor currently has no economically feasible means to quantify tonnage of trash collected from individual dumpsters. 6 Thusly, estimates provided in this research are based on recyclables collected only.
Collection System
Front of House: The area of recycling stations visible and accessible to attendees. Back of House: The consolidation collection site of large dumpsters, behind the fair.
Results
During the Townie Street Party (July 13, 2009) 4 tons of cardboard up from 3.5 tons in 2008 were collected. Bottle and can collections were down from 4 tons in 2008 to 3.5 tons this year.
Possible Reasons:
• A cool summer
• Refillable bottles sold at fair
• Refillable bottles (brought by attendees and artists)
• City water fountains made available
• Independent Recycling Entrepreneurs (IRA)
.
In total almost 8 tons were recycled and The Street Art Fair – The Original sent only 10 dumpster loads to be landfilled down from 25 sent in 2007 and 15 in 2008.
Cardboard can still be recovered from the dumpsters and a means of collecting Styrofoam would further reduce loads sent to the landfills in 2010.
6 As per City of Ann Arbor Solid Waste management supervisor Thomas McMurtrie email Aug.28 8:08am “We did not weigh the Art Fair trash
dumpsters separately from the other dumpsters we serviced. I can try to provide an estimate if you like.Weighing the materials would require a
trip to the transfer station to empty the trucks beforehand, then a trip back to the transfer station with the Art Fair materials to weigh those. In
addition to being an inefficient use of staff and vehicle time (which is very tight these days), it is also increasing our carbon footprint for an event
that is supposed to be environmentally beneficial.”
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Front Of House
Enhanced Recycling: The front and the back of the house were perceptively very clean and organized. No waste was left outside of any bins and the grounds had little debris to remove outside of the recycling stations. Contamination was almost nil and easily identified and moved to the correct bin. With clear signage and an abundance of recycling stations available patrons and vendors were able to dispose of items and make good decisions in their bin choices.
Back Of House
2009, 3 x 6-cubic yard trash dumpsters plus 1 x 6-cubic yard paper/cardboard dumpster were located on North University for pick-up by the City of Ann Arbor. 23 bottle/can 96-gallon rolling recycling carts were moved to pick-up along Washington Street for pick-up by Recycle Ann Arbor. 2008, 18 x 96-gallon recycling bins were placed along with 4 large 6-cubic yard trash dumpsters on an island on North University Avenue. Bottle and can bins were often full and were also recycled by Independent Recycling Entrepreneurs. IRE’s were encouraged and actively assisted in maintaining low bin contamination.
In 2007, all 4 x 6-cubic yard dumpsters were filled to overflowing and a fifth dumpster could have been utilized and filled to keep the site clean.
In 2008, only three of the four trash dumpsters were used and the forth was only filled on the first day of the art fair during set-up. In 2009 only 2 out of three dumpsters were used. Container recycling bins were often less than half full. The site was always clean except for some cardboard overflow. No trash bags littered the area.
A second separate 6-cubic yard dumpster for cardboard only would be optimal.
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Back Of House Bin Contents
Cardboard was the primary component of the paper recycling bins and had it’s own dedicated cardboard dumpster. Cardboard is estimated to be over 80% of the paper content. The placement of the cardboard dumpster in front of the trash dumpsters created a problem. Trash was being dumped by attendees in the first dumpster they came to so it was moved to the rear and this removed contamination concerns. Excess cardboard was placed outside of dumpster for pick-up. Collection of cardboard collection can still be improved. Most of the contamination in the trash bin was cardboard.
Having a separate pick-up area for recycled bottles and cans was a cleaner option than having everything grouped together.
Bottle and can bins were unusually empty. This could be due to a cooler summer, more people carrying their own refillable bottles, the sale of refillable bottles and easy access to water fountains. Independent recycling entrepreneurs may have also contributed to the low percentage collected as well.
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Glitches And Solutions
Compost Bin:
Glitch 1: Originally the compost was going to be collected in 96 gallon front of the house rolling bins to be rolled to the back of house for pick-up and delivery to Tuthill Farms. Standard non-rolling 36-gallon collection bins were actually supplied and looked identical to the trash bin. Compostable beer and wine glasses and large plates were bulky and took up a lot of space requiring several bags changes during the Townie Street Party. The smaller compost bin created a problem of storage for bags removed during event.
Solution 1: Need designated staging bin in the back of house to store compost bags during event and until removal, regardless of what size and style the front of house bin is used.
Explanation 1: 98% of all waste from the beer tents and hospitality tents can be captured for composting. This amounts to a large volume captured in a short period of time. 600 dinners were served and 2000 beer and wine beverages in only 4.5 hours. Disposable food containers are bulky and numerous and food waste is heavy and required constant changing throughout the event.
Glitch 2: Due to the high volume of compostables collected during the Townie Street Party a location needed to be found quickly that would house the biobags until pickup the next morning by Recycle Ann Arbor. The compostable were placed inside an empty 6 cubic yd. dumpster at the primary collection location on North University. The dumpster was labeled compost by the program coordinator but it was picked up as trash the next morning through miscommunication with the city.
Solution2: A designated back of the house collection area needs to be supplied to separate and secure the compostable items until scheduled pick-up
Explanation2: It is estimated that 20 full biobags were collected, approx. - 1/2 of the 6 cubic yd. container.
Glitch 3: Similar looking waste and compost bins aided in confusion for the patrons and a problem for the volunteers to trying to distinguish between the containers and reduce the risk of contamination during the very busy event.
The two identical bins although labeled differently needed to be placed away from each other.
Solution 3: Clear and easy to follow signage will greatly reduce confusion and contamination concerns. Actual taped or stapled board demonstrating real items over the proper bin would be optimal.
Explanation 3: Patrons demonstrated last year that they are willing to do the right thing and contamination was low.
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Glitch 4: In beer tent one compost bin station had a lot of problems. It was located in a tight corner of a tent that got very busy so patrons just threw their tableware and cups in the first bin they could reach. The volunteer was wedged in a corner or swamped by festive patrons. The banner over the bins restricted the view of the music tent causing one patron to be abusive to the volunteer. The banner was disassembled removing the identifying labels of each bin. The bins were then repositioned to the fence line that separated the hospitality tent from the beer tent (clearer space) and then needed to be removed again when the hospitality tent service ended and the barrier between them was removed to accommodate the growing beer tent patrons.
Solution 4a: Bin stations need to be placed in an open flow area, away from tight crowded corners where the banners serve the purpose of directing patrons to the correct bin choice.
Solution4b: The beer tent needs to have a clear and unobstructed view of the music stage.
Explanation4: Clear easy flow to the bins with signage visible promotes ease of recycling choices even if preoccupied with friends and family.
Signage:
Glitch 5: Compost labeling was unclear and difficult to distinguish. Banners made previously to fit the length of three bins did not cover or include space to identify compost and it sat outside of collection area.
Solution 5: See Solution 3.
Explanation 5: Better clear fun signage that is easy to read via pictures and real items over bins. The principle of “Don’t make me think” needs to be predominating in determining the style of signage that would be most effective.
Glitch 6: Recycling Banners falling over causing possible injury look unsightly lying on the ground and are ineffective if not upright and legible. Solution 6: Need firmer bases undersigns or a new style of sign. I recommend reformatting the signage that still implements using the same banners but cutting flags into them that point to each bin and still can be secured and wind can pass thorough with out creating a sail effect (See below).
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Tableware Procurement:
Glitch 7: Confusion over biodegradable and compostable tableware needs to be clarified. Vendors tried to do the right thing. I believe sale reps may not be aware of the differences and only know what they have been told by their supplier or company and may not investigate claims made to comply with customer requests and concerns.
Solution 7a: All suppliers should be carefully vetted to their commitment to environmental commitments. If they are not concerned with the products they are selling other than to make a sale they need to be examined and reconsidered as suppliers.
Solution 7b: Only tableware that meet compost standard ASTM 6400 and EN 13432 (Appendix D). Paper plates, napkins made of recycled content are acceptable. Paper plates, cups and bowls lined with plastic or wax are not, lined with PLA are.
Solution 7c: All items need to be approved for composting by the composting facility before entering the event grounds.
Conclusion
The pilot compost zero waste program was perceived by everyone involved (even with the identified glitches) as an overall success and received favorable reviews from almost all participants in all aspects of participation. Some patrons said they expected a city like Ann Arbor to have this type of program in place and were surprised that it was new. Patrons have repeated this each year so far.
The estimated landfill diversion rates from the four-day Street Art Fair plus The Townie Street Party is difficult to establish as there were no real weights taken by Recycle Ann Arbor or The City of Ann Arbor Solid Waste Management but dumpster loads heading for landfills are down from 25 in 2007, to 15 in 2008, and now 10 for the entire Street Fair this year.
Another factor that makes accurate measurement difficult is the volume of bottles and cans collected by Independent Recycling Entrepreneurs (IRE) that could not be measured but did occur. IRE’s are viewed as providing an important service and the recyclables as a source of income for the local entrepreneurs and was not restricted.
The number of bottles and cans recaptured from the landfills were down this year. A cooler summer, sale of refillable bottles and city water fountains installed for the event are possible explanations since attendance and sales remained strong. This reduction in recyclables is considered as positively as the reduction of dumpsters sent to the landfill. The goal is zero waste for the Street Art Fair.
98% of the Townie Street Party Hospitality and Beer Tent waste was compostable. That means 600 diners and 2000 beer and wine beverages sold made a negligible impact on Michigan landfills. With 6 composting stations in that area there each manned by a volunteer and all compostables provided by the art fair there is little reason to have more than a few bags of trash at most. With more diligence and commitment to small details there is no reason the entire Townie Street Party cannot reach near zero waste.
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Recommendations For 2010
Quick Facts And Recommendation Sheet
1. A dedicated full-time Zero Waste Coordinator (ZWC) is recommended to move Zero Waste Festivals and Events into the forefront. Program consistency and reliability over time ensures the success of the Zero Waste effort.
2. Failing hiring a ZWC, Steve Sheldon of Recycle Ann Arbor demonstrates solid ZW performance plus the addition of an Eco-cycle veteran from Boulder Colorado to Recycle Ann Arbor is a positive move in the direction of zero waste programs.
3. Educational programs are essential to strong and effective implementation.
4. Marketers and promotional tents need to be given a compliance agreement sheet to become educated in the disposal of their waste cardboard.
5. Contractual commitment to Zero Waste should be mandatory to apply and receive an events permit.
6. Clear signage for easy identification by all is essential to a successful program. The majority does the right thing when given the opportunity. People will sort waste and participate in the program when given visible, clearly marked and easily accessible options.
7. Volunteers are desired for set-up, breakdown and required to attend the festivals as educators.
8. Recycling stations need bases and signage that won’t blow-over.
9. Recycling bags need to be secured so they do not fold or fall into the bin.
10. Biobags need to be provided for compost collection.
11. Dedicated compost collection bins back of house need to be provided.
12. Trash bins need to be labeled “Landfill” not “Trash” to clarify final destination of materials.
13. Compost bins need to look different from the trash bins, with a cover and signage.
14. To be truly Zero Waste, food waste and bio-tableware needs to be composted. Tuthill Farms could be considered for compostable services during events and festivals.
15. An annual analysis of materials being landfilled needs to be made at the end of the fair and expanded to integrate or eliminate those materials in the following year. Further separation of cardboard, needs to be implemented.
16. If the cardboard contamination of the trash dumpsters can be minimized the Art Fair –The Original should only require 2 instead of 3 landfill dumpsters in 2010 assuming the compost pilot continues.
17. If the compost program is not continued a third dumpster may be needed but only for the Townie Street Party.
18. European Union standards eliminate any confusion in biocompostable product integrity and should be the standard implemented to reduce risk.
19. Community groups and local environmental organizations should be encouraged to participate in the Zero Waste effort. Non-compostable or recyclable products need to be phased out and removed from the fair.
20. Funds can be raised by selling biocompostable ware and Art Fair compost at the farmers market increasing community awareness and encouraging participation in Zero Waste.
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Detailed Recommendations
Leadership And Commitment
The State of Michigan does not have a strong leadership commitment that provides grants and incentives to experiment and build Zero Waste pilot projects. It is clear from successful Zero Waste programs that the determination and commitment levels from city leaders was the spark that built a strong volunteer base, reliable staff and crews that guaranteed their success.
The results are reflected in the extraordinarily high numbers of landfill waste diversion they have been able to quantify. The success of these programs is infectious and spills over throughout the communities that benefit directly.
The cost of land filling waste was not a factor in their commitment towards zero waste. Leaders in Zero Waste Boulder Colorado have the same inexpensive land filling fees as Ann Arbor. Their motivation was a natural growth and progression that enlightened educated leaders rise to.
Now is the time for Ann Arbor to stop throwing away perfectly good resources, to grow as a community and move in a healthy positive direction. Ann Arbor has always been a leader.
Zero Waste Coordinator (ZWC)
It is the expressed opinion of this researcher and Street art Fair organizers that the scope of this ground breaking project requires a dedicated fulltime Zero Waste Coordinator.
Due to the multiple organizations (City of Ann Arbor, The Ecology Center, Recycle Ann Arbor, Four Art Fair Directors and boards, grant funders, individual vendors, four separate Recycling crews and systems…) involved in the process plus the educational element to the many factions from city employees, volunteers, vendors, organizers, artists and attendees. A solely devoted ZWC would be responsible for: the implementation, monitoring and coordination of the program, to answer questions from vendors, educational forums, and all other areas required to succeed and move towards true Zero Waste Festivals and Events.
Zero Waste Festivals and Events are becoming mainstream through out the US and quickly catching on with increased awareness of environmental issues. Most events are restricted and controllable due to the nature of those events. Most ZW Events are managed by one or two organizations. The Ann Arbor Art Fair’s are very large and involve many divergent organizations and groups and this makes it a bigger program to manage.
All of the practices put into place by the ZWC should be transferable to many other festivals and events in the City of Ann Arbor and beyond for many years after.
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2010 Townie Street Party, recycling station with composting. Banner cut into triangles but anchored with bottom string to allow wind to pass through, shape directs attendees. Trash bin isolated from recycling center. Compost bin clearly labeled and integrated with unique opening from other bins.
2009 Mixed bins with banner that fell over in the wind. Compost looks like an after thought. Compost same bin as trash, leads to confusion and high bin contamination.
Failing hiring a ZWC, I would recommend that the ZW program fall in the hands of Recycle Ann Arbor and believe that Steve Sheldon would be an exceptional leader. Steve demonstrates a clear understanding and commitment of ZW and recycling. He provided stellar quantifications and deliberations for the ZW pilot program for the Michigan Beer Fest event in Ypsilanti in 2008/9.
In all cases the ZWC would need full support and enthusiasm for the ZW program from the City, Recycle A2, The Ecology Center and the Directors of all the Art Fairs.
Composting
Commitment Composting of food waste and biocompostable tableware needs to be taken seriously and supported. After all the cans, bottles, paper, cardboard and Styrofoam are removed from the trash the biggest elements left are plastic and food waste. Food nutrients in nature give back to the soil and do not create waste and there is no reason they should be land filled anymore.
Front Of House Recycling Stations
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Lower number of recyclables collected may create a tendency to reduce recycling bin stations but this should be avoided until thrash levels reduce dramatically Easy access to recycling options prevents littering and keeps recycling rates high.
1. Need to focus on high traffic areas such as commuter bus drop-off points, entrances, street crossings, Porta Potty’s, food, entertainment and music areas. These need a higher concentration of visible accessible ZW Stations than a straight faraway. Accessibility means visible, easy to find, easy for all to access, patrons, vendors, and Special Ops crew.
2. Composting bins need to be lined with bio-bags or bio-compostable bags that comply with European Union standard EN13432. (See Appendix F) to reduce risk of negative impact biodegradable bags (not fully bio-compostable) may have among the environmentally savvy.
3. Signage: Trash bins need to be labeled “Landfill” to further clarify the choices that are offered.
4. Banners need to be redesigned still reusing banners we have by cutting a triangle in them to direct the eye down to the appropriate bin and allowing the wind to pass through with out blowing them over (see previous page).
5. Ties to keep the garbage bags around the bins are needed to prevent the bags from folding inwards.
6. Greater assistance is needed to set-up and tear down recycle stations.
Back Of House
1. A dedicated compost dumpster needs to be provided. There was no dedicated station to place bags collected from overfilled bins.
2. Improved cardboard collection is still needed. There was plenty of recyclable cardboard deposited in the trash bins.
3. I project that the third 6 cubic yards trash dumpster will not be required if we are collecting compost and separating cardboard but to stay on the safe side until the project has another year to quantify results it should remain.
4. Serious observation and analysis of items entering the landfill dumpsters needs to be noted to expand the program each year and eventually eliminate all need for land filling, e.g.: Styrofoam, metal, vinyl, wood…
Volunteers
1. Clear leadership is needed for the volunteers who do work on the Zero Waste Program. A dedicated zero waste volunteer coordinator who can work in the field and train teams and keep them energized is the best situation scenario.
2. Recycle Ann Arbor is a group that sends a clear message about the direction of commitment and would be the best organization to lead and co-ordinate a zero waste green team.
3. A volunteer core dedicated to recycling within the city is needed to spread the Zero Waste program and to provide some consistency over time. Boulder Colorado’s
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EcoCenter has been able to build their ECOwarrier recycling army to over 800 volunteers over time. Ann Arbor needs a solid reliable committee willing to physically participate in assisting the ZWC in each person’s individual areas of strength.
4. The volunteers would work with the ZWC in monitoring vendor questions and compliance, educating the public to the program during the fair and providing feedback from attendees and special operations crews to improve the program each year.
5. Need more volunteers to assemble and set-up bin stations before Townie Street Party.
6. Other volunteer groups such as The Sierra Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and interested environmental groups are another option. In Bolder Colorado, the Major mans a station and information booth educating constituents sending a clear message to the city regarding their commitment to ZW. Ann Arbor city representatives should participate.
7. Donations to group or charities for educational and set-up services may assist in providing non-profits organizations such as Churches and environmental groups in participating.
8. In Boulder Colorado, senior volunteers are paid Minimum wage, half in cash and half in credit against their property.
Community
An alternative to Recycle Ann Arbor managing this program would be an independent dedicated volunteer community committee that would manage the direction of the ZW program. They work together with the ZWC as equals and bring new energy and direction to programs over time and provide fresh ideas that would bring the project to life. This group would depend on cooperation between the city and policy makers to implement their programs.
Education
1. Art Fair director, vendors, volunteers, Special Operations Crews and artists need training to better understand their roles in participating in ZW. It was noted that some booths that were not food related were unclear what to do with their cardboard and other recyclables not provided for at the recycling stations.
2. A firm commitment needs to be made by all organizers and organizations associated with the zero waste program in regards to compliance levels expected by all participants to achieve the goal of zero waste. This encompasses monitoring, enforcement and educational focus. Education is the key to commitment and compliance and a successful program.
3. As well as vendors, all participants (including artists) need an agreement in the standard contracts that stipulate the Zero Waste commitment, manner of disposal expected of them and areas where they can access for items such as cardboard pick-up.
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Appendix A
A Review
Tenets of Zero Waste
What exactly is Zero Waste? Specifically, Zero Waste has five basic tenets: Redesigning products and packaging. Planning in advance to limit product resource consumption, toxicity, and waste, and recovering materials through reuse, recycling, or composting - designing products for the environment, not for the dump. This is also referred to as “Cradle to Cradle” production as opposed to the standard “Cradle to the
Grave” practice standard today.
Producer Responsibility. Manufacturers are held responsible for the waste and environmental impact their product and packaging creates, rather than passing that responsibility on to the consumer. The end result is that manufacturers redesign products to reduce materials consumption and facilitate reuse, recovery and recycling.
Investing in Infrastructure, Not Landfills or Incinerators. Rather than using the tax base to build new landfills and incinerators, communities can continue to invest in new facilities designed to take the place of a landfill or incinerator. Combined with social policies and market signals, the technological advances of the 1990s can easily support the diversion of 90% of society's discards.
Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for Wasteful and Polluting Industries. Pollution, energy consumption and environmental destruction start at the point of virgin resource extraction and processing. Manufacturers use virgin resources for raw material partly because tax subsidies and other social policies make this a cheaper and easier alternative than using recycled or recovered materials. Additional public subsidies exist to keep "disposal" costs through landfills and incinerators artificially low by not assigning significant economic penalties to the harmful emissions produced by these facilities.
Creating Jobs and New Businesses from Discards. Wasting materials in a landfill or incinerator also wastes business opportunities that could be created if those resources were preserved. According to the Institute for Local Self Reliance's report “Wasting and Recycling in the United States 2000”, "On a per-ton basis, sorting and processing recyclables alone sustains ten times more jobs than land filling or incineration." The report points out that some recycling-based paper mills and recycled plastic product manufacturers employ 60 times more workers on a per-ton basis than do landfills. The report adds, "Each recycling step a community takes locally means more jobs, more business expenditures on supplies and services, and more money circulating in the local economy through spending and tax payments."
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Appendix B Historical progression and growth of the zero waste program.
2007 Recycle Bin Station Placement Map
49th Annual Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original N
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2008 Bin Station Set-up Map
U of M established landfill bins
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2009 Townie Street Party Bin Placement
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2009 Ann Arbor Street Art Fair – The Original Recycling Bin Placement
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Appendix C
Using Near-Infrared Sorting To Recycle PLA Bottles
NatureWorks LLC Recycling - Sortation A first-of-its-kind series of tests at actual commercial recycling facilities demonstrated that plant-made PLA materials (polylactide) can be effectively separated from the PET plastic bottle recycling stream and does not appreciably contaminate downstream recycled PET (rPET) extrusion processes.
The field tests, held earlier this year at major recycling and rPET sheet extrusion facilities, were conducted under actual operating conditions. The tests were monitored by an independent consultant, Plastics Forming Enterprises LLC, (PFE), a highly respected worldwide plastics expert and jointly sponsored by Primo Water Corporation and NatureWorks LLC, and the developer of Ingeo™ natural plastic resin – the leading brand of PLA materials.7
Article on NatureWorks Website …Since PLA bottles look and feel similar to PET bottles, recyclers often consider material identification between the two difficult. Because of this, the possibility of mixing the different materials together exists. As a result, there is concern in the recycling community that PLA bottles, at high enough levels, would contaminate the PET recycle stream due to chemical and thermal property differences. These differences could affect down stream processing and final product properties. The inclusion of PLA bottles is also considered to take away value in the PET recycle stream by creating problems with sortation efficiency, accuracy, and potential yield loss.
Because PET bottles account for the majority of the clear plastic bottles that get used and recycled, there needs to be enough critical mass in the market place to justify the economics of creating an independent PLA bottle recycling operation or separate stream…
…In order to continue to introduce IngeoTM biopolymer into the plastic bottle market in a responsible way, NatureWorks LLC and Primo Water Corp. conducted a commercial-scale bottle recycling evaluation to demonstrate that automated systems being used today in the recycling industry are capable of separating PLA bottles from PET bottles with good accuracy and efficiency. In this evaluation, near-infrared equipment was used since it is a common sortation technology in large recycling operations and can accurately identify many different types of polymers. … 8
The Difference Between Degradable And Biodegradable Plastics
Food vendors rely on the salesperson to fairly represent the products they are offering. I believe that sometimes the salesperson does not fully understand these standards and may confuse and unknowingly recommend a bio/degradable product in place of a compostable. The European Union Standard EN 13432 removes any confusion, doubt and possible misrepresentation of compostable products and provides the highest standard of compostable items to the market. The American standard ASTM D 6400 is also acceptable but carries a lower degree of compostability over the same period of time
Bioware Standards
Certified Compostable Foodservice Items This category includes manufacturers of foodservice items, such as plates, cups, bowls, fruit bowls and other items used to serve meals. All are designed to disintegrate and biodegrade quickly and safely, when composted in a professionally managed facility.
All BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute)-approved products meet stringent, scientifically based specifications: ASTM D6400 or ASTM D6868. And EN 13432 9
ASTM D6400 - Test for Compostability10
This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities.
This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging made from plastics, as "compostable in municipal and industrial composting facilities."
The properties in this specification are those required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials.
Further, the properties in the specification are required to assure that the degradation of these materials will not diminish the value or utility of the compost resulting from the composting process.
The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard:
This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate
health and safety practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
ASTM D6868 - Biodegradable Plastics11
This specification covers biodegradable plastics and products (including packaging), where plastic film or sheet is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities.
This specification is intended to establish the requirements for labeling of materials and products, including packaging, using coatings of biodegradable plastics, as "compostable in municipal and industrial composting facilities."
The properties in this specification are those required to determine if products (including packaging) using plastic films or sheets will compost satisfactorily, including biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. Further, the properties in the specification are required to assure that the degradation of these materials will not diminish the value or utility of the compost resulting from the composting process.
This standard does not describe contents or their performance with regard to compostability or biodegradability.
The following safety hazards caveat pertains to the test methods portion of this standard: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate health and safety practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to us.12
Standard EN 13432: Proof of compostability of plastic products
Plastic products can provide proof of their compostability by successfully meeting the harmonized European standard, EN 13432. The European Packaging Directive 94/62 EC makes reference hereto with regard to compliance with recovery directives.
Scope of testing under EN 13432 Chemical test: Disclosure of all constituents, threshold values for heavy metals are to be adhered to. Biodegradability in watery medium (oxygen consumption and production of CO2): Proof must be made that at least 90% of the organic material is converted into CO2 within 6 months.
Disintegration in compost: After 3 months’ composting and subsequent sifting through a 2 mm sieve, no more than 10% residue may remain, as compared to the original mass.
Practical test of compostability in a semi- industrial (or industrial) composting facility: No negative influence on the composting process is permitted.
Compost application: Examination of the effect of resultant compost on plant growth (agronomic test), ecotoxicity test.
The maximum material gauge of a plastic is determined by its compostability in standard practice composting operations. All tests must be passed. Success in individual tests will not be sufficient. The EN standard test methods are based on the scientific definitions of the ISO standards 18451, 18452 (aerobic degradability in water), 18453 (anaerobic degradability in water) and 18455 (aerobic composting). The tests must be conducted by recognized test laboratories. An address list is available from certifying bodies.
The association European Bioplastics approves plastic products according to EN 13432 if the marketer advertises the product to be "compostable" or "biodegradable". Because these terms are not always used correctly, the association has published information on so-called "degradable" or "oxo- degradable" plastic products. Producers have signed a voluntary self commitment on product certification which had been acknowledged by the European DG Enterprise.
There are currently few international organizations which have established standards and testing methods for compostability, namely:
* American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM-6400-9 * European Standardization Committee (CEN) EN13432 * International Standards Organization (ISO) ISO14855 (only for biodegradation)
* German Institute for Standardization (DIN) DINV49000
Standard Compliance Requirements
Standards Biodegradation Requirement
DIN 60% 6 months ASTM 60% 6 months CEN 90% 90 days OECD 60% (for
chemicals) 28 days
The ASTM, CEN and DIN standards specify the criteria for biodegradation, disintegration and eco-toxicity for a plastic to be called compostable.
* Biodegradability is determined by measuring the amount of CO2 produced over a certain time period by the biodegrading plastic. ASTM, ISO and DIN standards require 60% biodegradation within 180 days. The EN13432 standard requires 90% biodegradation within 90 days.
* Disintegration is measured by sieving the material to determine the biodegraded size and less than 10% should remain on a 2mm screen for most standards
* Eco toxicity is measured by having concentrations of heavy metals below the limits set by the standards and by testing plant growth by mixing the compost with soil in different concentrations and comparing it with controlled compost.
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In the USA, the BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) certifies bioplastics under the ASTM-6400-99, standard for "compostable plastics" and awards their logo to products which pass this certification.
To measure compostability, the ASTM in the United States has developed the key standard ASTM D5338-93. This is a standard test method for determining aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials under controlled composting conditions. In this method the plastic is mixed with stabilized and mature compost derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The net production of CO2 is recorded relative to a control containing only mature compost. After determining the carbon content of the test substance, the percentage biodegradation can be calculated as the percentage of solid carbon of the test substance which has been converted to gaseous carbon in the form of CO2. In addition to carbon conversion, disintegration and weight loss can be evaluated.
To meet the ASTM D5338-93 standard, 60% of single polymer materials must mineralize in six months, and 90% must do so in blends. Materials should give way to intense microbial activity and be converted from carbon to carbon dioxide, biomass and water. Materials also should begin to fragment, at which point disintegration begins. In this phase, the material must completely physically and visually disintegrate. Ninety percent of the disintegrated material must not adversely affect the quality of the compost. Finally, even after land application, remaining materials should be safely converted into carbon dioxide by microorganisms. The resultant compost should not be toxic and should not deter plant growth.
ASTM D5511-94 is the standard test method for determining anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials under high-solids anaerobic digestion conditions. This method determines the inherent biodegradability of plastic in an anaerobic solid waste digester or a sanitary landfill under optimal conditions. In this case the total volume of biogas produced per unit weight of sample is measured. Knowing the carbon content of the test material, the percentage of biodegradation can be calculated as the percentage of solid carbon in the sample which has been converted to gaseous carbon in the form of CH4 and CO2.
International Standards Research
The performance of biodegradable plastics in composting facilities and under laboratory conditions has been studied by International Standards Research (ISR). ISR has determined that plastics need to meet the following three criteria in order to be compostable:
* They must biodegrade at the same rate and to the same extent as known compostable material such as garden waste and paper, and leave no persistent or toxic residues.
* They must disintegrate during active composting so there are no visible or distinguishable fragments found on the screens.
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* They must have no ecotoxicity or phytotoxicity that may impact on the ability of the compost to support plant growth.
International Standards Organization
Three International Standards Organization (ISO) standards have set the criteria by which European biodegradable plastics are currently assessed. These are:
* ISO 14855 (aerobic biodegradation under controlled conditions);
* ISO 14852 (aerobic biodegradation in aqueous environments); and
* ISO 15985 (anaerobic biodegradation in a high solids sewerage environment).
ISO 14855 is a controlled aerobic composting test, and ISO 14851 and ISO 14852 are biodegradability tests specifically designed for polymeric materials.
An important part of assessing biodegradable plastics is testing for disintegration in the form in which it will be ultimately used. Either a controlled pilot-scale test or a test in a full-scale aerobic composting treatment facility can be used. Due to the nature and conditions of such disintegration tests, the tests cannot differentiate between biodegradation and abiotic disintegration, but instead demonstrates that sufficient disintegration of the test materials has been achieved within the specified testing time.
European Committee for Normalization
The European Committee for Normalization (CEN) established the norm standard (CEN prEN 13432) in 1999. The norm provides the European Commission's European Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste with appropriate technical regulations and standards. This norm is a reference point for all European producers, authorities, facility managers and consumers.
The standard specifies requirements and procedures to determine the compostability of plastic packaging materials based on four main areas:
* biodegradability;
* disintegration during biological treatment;
* effect on the biological treatment process; and
* effect on the quality of the resulting compost.
Importantly, the packaging material that is intended for entering the bio-waste stream must be 'recognizable' as biodegradable or compostable, by the end user.
The strictest European standard for biodegradability is CEN 13432. This standard can apply to other packaging materials in addition to polymers, and incorporates the following tests and standards:
* ISO 14855;
* ISO 14855 (respirometric);
* ISO 14852;
* ASTM D5338-92;
* ASTM D5511-94;
* ASTM D5152-92;
* ASTM E1440-91;
* Modified OECD 207; and
* CEN TC 261/SC4/WG2.
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For a material to pass the standard, it must not persist for longer than 6 months under any of the conditions stipulated in the above tests and have a pass level of 90%. In addition, the material must not exceed a heavy metals content above 50% of that for 'normal' compost, as follows:
* Zn 150 ppm
* Cr 50 ppm
* Cu 50 ppm
* Mo 1 ppm
* Ni 25 ppm
* Se 0.75 ppm
* Cd 0.5 ppm
* As 5 ppm
* Pb 50 ppm
* F 100 ppm
* Hg 0.5 ppm
'OK Compost' Certification and Logo
The 'OK Compost' logo can be used on the labeling of biodegradable plastics and other materials to signify that the material is 100% compostable and biodegradable. The logo is owned and managed by AVI, and is based on the CEN - 13432 standard.
Compost Toxicity Tests
For a comprehensive assessment of toxicity associated with compost applications, plastics can be tested on both plant and animal species.
Toxicity screening of some commercial degradable plastics using cell culture testing has been reported by Dang et al. (1997). A number of polyester types were tested including a plasticized cellulose acetate, an aliphatic polyester (Bionolle), polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (BiopolTM), and polycaprolactone (TONETM polymer). Cell culture medium with serum was used as the extraction medium. The relative MTT activity of cells cultured in fresh extracts indicate that TONETM polymer (all shapes) and Bionolle (test bars and films) are comparable to materials currently used in food with no toxic effects on cells (Dang et. al; 1997).
Plant Phytotoxicity Testing
While a product may not negatively impact plant growth in the short term, over time it could become phytotoxic due to the build-up of inorganic materials, which could potentially lead to a reduction in soil productivity. For this reason some manufacturers use plant phytotoxicity testing on the finished compost that contains degraded polymers.
Phytotoxicity testing can be conducted on two classes of flowering plants. These are monocots (plants with one seed leaf) and dicots (plants with two seed leafs). Representatives from both of these classes are typically used in toxicity testing - summer barley to represent monocots and cress to represent dicots. Tests involve measuring the yield of both of these plants obtained from the test compost and from control compost.
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Animal Toxicity Test
Animal testing is generally carried out using earthworms (as representative soil dwelling organisms) and Daphnia (as representative aquatic organisms). Earthworms are very sensitive to toxicants. Since earthworms feeds on soil, they are suitable for testing the toxicity of compost.
In the acute toxicity test, earthworms are exposed to high concentrations of the test material for short periods of time. The toxicity test is a European test (OECD guideline #207) in which earthworms are exposed to soil and compost in varying amounts. Following 14 days of exposure, the number of surviving earthworms is counted and weighed and the percent survival rate is calculated. The earthworms are exposed to several mixture ratios of compost and soil mixtures.
Compost worms (Eisenia fetida) are used for testing the toxicity of biodegradable plastic residues. These worms are very sensitive to metals such as tin, zinc, heavy metals and high acidity. For this test worms are cleaned and accurately weighed at intervals over 28 days. The compost worm toxicity test is considered to be an accurate method.
The Daphnia toxicity test can establish whether degradation products present in liquids pose any problem to surface water bodies. In the test, Daphnia are placed in test solutions for 24 hours. After exposure the number of surviving organisms is counted and the percent mortality is calculated.
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Appendix E
Independent Compostablity Validation Test
By Valerie Jenner EDC Communications Aug.2009
Purpose: This compostablity test was determined necessary as a result of discussion during the Townie Street Party between the volunteers and staff members. There was a lack of consensus on what foods were acceptable to compost and how long the tableware products would take to compost if at all.
Tuthill Farms (pg. 22) was confident that all items (food and tableware, including meat, cheese and pasta) would take less than two weeks depending on the temperature of the compost windrow, moisture levels and based on experience. Volunteers were skeptical and it was decided to put it to the test.
Location: Tuthill Farms is a professional compost facility. Tuthill Farms uses windrows and regularly achieves heat levels of 140°-170°. If moisture levels are high 170° is the norm for hot spots. There is no digester or complicated machinery used in building these windrows. All compost is screened, impurities removed and the compost is then matured for about 3 years before sold.
This has been a dry summer for Tuthill Farms and the windrow temperatures did not rise above 165 during this test. The outer layers were at 140° degrees.
Compostable plastic cups, cutlery and straws and PLA lined paper bowls were collected from a gathering of 40 people at EDC offices and PLA plastic containers, (used for their bulk nuts and dried fruit, returned by patrons for composting) were also collected from the Ann Arbor Co-op. A sign made by the researcher and bin was provided by the co-op for collection of all foods including meats, cheese and pastas. We were hoping for more compostable products but patrons at the co-op complained about the bin for the food and there was debate over whether meats should have been included in the bin. The bin was removed. This researcher was hoping to include all these products and looks forward to another attempt another time.
In total 20 lbs of biocompostable ware was collected for the composting pilot. One full biobag contained only PLA plastic containers and another of plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, straws, napkins and food waste of all types including dairy, meat, bread and pasta.
Shary Brown, Director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair the Original, accompanied Valerie Jenner on the first trip to Tuthill Farms.
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Day One (Monday): The end of the compost windrow13, made primarily of leaves and garden waste was opened. Temperatures of 140° were registered in the compost pile and the two bags
were placed in this area and covered with the compost. A small amount of manure from the farm was added to the windrow to increase moisture levels due to an unusually dry summer.
Shary Brown and Sandra Tuthill at Tuthill Farms, South Lyon, MI
13
A row, as of leaves or snow, or in this case compostable materials.
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Day Three: The windrow was opened up and the amount of bioware found was photographed. The temperatures of the windrow reached 150° degrees.
Some PLA containers were found looking like melted layers of plastics but discernable by their still intact product labels. There was no visible, cups, bowls or straws. There are a few bagasse plates but more than 40 were collected. A few pieces of cutlery were found and a shredded biobag. Most of the bioware was difficult to find. The compost piles were turned once a day to keep them well aerated and to assist in heat gain. This movement may have been enough to shred much of the bioware and assist in its rapid decomposition. It was unexpected by this researcher that the 12 oz. beer glasses and small wine glasses were not to be found and most of the potato starch cutlery (over 100 pcs.) could not be found. This was a rate that far exceeded expectations. A search deeper into the pile was made to be sure the bioware did not get moved in the turning. No more was found.
Visible Steam rising from opened compost pile
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Day Five: It was difficult to find more than a pound of any bioware. The windrow temperature read 150° and was very hot to the touch. When the windrow was opened on all occasions
there was visible steam even though outdoors temps were in the mid to high 70’s. Some of the melted PLA plastic still remained and there were many small shattered pieces of it around the area, one knife and fork and some shredded biobag were all that could be found. We sifted through the compost with pitchforks and were unsuccessful at finding another group or pile of bioware. Another attempt was made at digging to see if any of the bioware had moved but none could be found. Sandra suggested that the remaining bioware was on the periphery of the windrow where it was cooler and did not get the high heat area needed to quickly break the materials down.
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Summary:
Everyday Sandra Tuthill turned the windrow to incorporate oxygen and moisture throughout and provide a favorable atmosphere to the compost windrow and maintain as high temperatures as possible. If moisture levels were low manure from the farm animals was mixed in to increase moisture content. This constant manipulation may have helped the materials to shred and degrade faster than if they were left sitting.
Sandra maintained that the bioware would compost in a few weeks if not faster depending on the moisture levels of the windrows. Considering that there was a full biobag of hard durable PLA containers and over 120 pieces each of potato starch cutlery, bagasse plates, PLA glassware and PLA straws initially introduced and only a few partially degraded pieces could be recovered demonstrates that the bioware composted far faster than this researcher expected but was no surprise to Sandra.
Soil samples were first taken, as a control for possible soil content. This practice was impractical to be maintained given the size of the windrow and constant mixing of the compost with other items. Based on the certification the products had achieved ASTM 6400, ASTM 6868 and EN 13468 prior to the experiment by respected American and International governing bodies it can be assumed that the products did compost into nutritional building blocks for plants. (see Appendix D).
Conclusion:
The conclusion is that the bioware, PLA plastics, that have ASTM 6400 and EN13468 certification, and all food can compost rapidly with the correct compost mix and high heat.
A well-maintained compost windrow is a simple and efficient means to compost much of the organic and bioware wastes collected at festivals and events and keep it out of the landfills without expensive digesters.
Composting can remove a large amount of trash that is not recyclable from the waste stream and turn it into a viable soil enhancing product for resale and profit creating another form of economically viable business instead of sitting in a landfill for 1000 years, composting also reduces the greenhouse gas, methane, produced in these landfills. New petroleum based tableware is being produced to degrade in 10 years in a landfill are not certified ASTM 6400 or EN 13468 but are permitted #6 plastics rating, unacceptable for composting purposes (See Glossary).
Composting disposable compostable food packaging/tableware also removes more petroleum items (petroleum based plates, cups and disposable cutlery, straws, restaurant takeout and bulk containers) and in turn improves national security by reducing demand on products made from imported oil.
We estimate that in a controlled event over 95% of waste can be diverted away from landfills through waste avoidance (providing water fountains, refillable bottles, and restricting the sale of plastic water bottles), recycling, reusing materials, composting disposables and food waste.
