piazza's waste audit report final

Waste Audit Report:

Piazza’s Fine Foods Market

of Palo Alto

Conducted by:

Josh Hubert

Zero Waste Outreach Intern

Zero Waste Palo Alto

PIAZZA'S WASTE AUDIT REPORT

Date of

Audit Auditor Josh Hubert

Address 3922 Middlefield Rd. Hours 7 am to 10 pm Phone

Service

Location

Qty Size Service Days Qty Size Service Days Qty Size Service Days

1 6 yd MTuThFSa 1 6 yd M-Sa 1 6 yd MWFSa

10% full

(.6 cu yd)

5%

25%

70%

20% full

(1.2 cu yd)

0%

90%

10%

40% full

(2.4 cu yd)

1%

4%

95%

back of store

Materials in Landfill container Materials in Recycle container Materials in Compost container

SERVICE LEVELS

Landfill Service Recycle Service Compost Service

Recycle bin CONTENT FOUND

Landfill bin

Landfill plastic utensils, cheese block wrapper, few composite snack packages, latex gloves

Recycle cans, paper pastry boxes, full beverage bottles, paper cups and bowls, plastic cups

Compost lettuce, fruit salad, paper, trash bag of prepared food from hot food bar

Notes Approximately 6.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .03, R- .15, C- .42

CONTENT FOUND

Compost bin

Landfill

Recycle film plastic bagged (bonus points), clean paper, stack of unused takeout trays

Compost fruit peels, used paper towels

Notes Approximately 4.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- 1.08, C- .12

CONTENT FOUND

650.494.1629

Tuesday 7/7/2015, 1:30pm

Notes Approximately 21.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .02, R- .1, C- 2.28

serviced 7-7:30 am serviced 9 am serviced 6-6:15 am

Landfilldirty plastic trash bags

Recyclea few plastic clamshell containers, twist ties, a few cardboard boxes, seemingly clean

produce box paper

Compost mainly produce, lots of leafy veggies, some blueberries, grapefruits, peach, stringbeans,

bell pepper scraps, newspaper and used paper towels, paper label twist ties

Landfill, 5%

Recycle, 25%

Compost, 70% Recycle,

90%

Compost, 10%

Landfill, 1%

Recycle, 4%

Compost, 95%


Photos from Landfill bin


Photos from Recycle bin


Photos from Compost bin


Date Thursday 7/9/2015 3:30p

Materials in Recycle container Materials in Compost container

20% full

(1.2 cu yd)

10%

20%

70%

15% full

(.9 cu yd)

2%

98%

0%

75% full

(4.5 cu yd)

0%

4%

96%

Approximately 23.5 business hours after collection.

Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .18, C- 4.32Notes

Landfill

Recycleblack plastic flat with fruit indents, cardboard boxes, film plastic, plastic bags

Compost leafy greens, melons and rinds, carrots, peaches, plums, radishes, asparagus,

artichokes, avocado, corn, cucumber


Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .02, R- .88, C- 0Notes

CONTENT FOUND

Materials in Landfill container


Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .12, R- .24, C- .84

Recycle

lots of unopened yogurt containers and several beverage bottles (contents

should be poured into compost or down drain), plastic pasta container, office

paper

Compost perishable cream cartons, coffee cup, used paper towels, several trash bags

filled with leftover food from hot food bar, full ‘Delifresh smoked meat’ container

Notes

CONTENT FOUNDLandfill bin

Landfillheat-reflective metal sheet (maybe could be reused), Styrofoam blocks


Compost bin

Landfillcaution tape, painted wood stick, shipment securing strap

Recycle cardboard boxes, unused plastic take-out boxes, lots of film plastic and package

wrapping, bubble wrap, office paper, plastic jug

Compost

Landfill, 10%

Recycle, 20%

Compost, 70%

Landfill, 2%

Recycle, 98%

Recycle, 4%

Compost, 96%


`



Date Wednesday 7/15/2015 4:30p

100% full

(6 cu yd)

5%

35%

60%

10% full

(0.6 cu yd)

0%

100%

0%

20% full

(1.2 cu yd)

0%

5%

95%

Materials in Landfill container Materials in Recycle container


Landfill

Recycle plastic bags bagged, plastic produce boxes, black plastic fruit trays, clean

plastic wrap

NotesApproximately 9.5 business hours after collection.

Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .06, C- 1.14

Compostwaxed carboard boxes, corn, lettuce, parsley, brussel sprouts,

Compost

Materials in Compost container

Notes Approximately 24.5 business hours after collection.

Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .3, R- 2.1, C- 3.6

Landfill bin

Landfilldirty plastic bags, composite material product bags, styrofoam egg carton

Recycle plastic tubs, cardboard boxes, coffee tin, clean plastic bags, brown paper,

yogurt containers

Compost eggs and cartons, lots of leftover hot food, dirty paper towels, dirty paper

takeout containers

CONTENT FOUND

Recycleplastic container, salad mix bag, paper cup

CONTENT FOUND

Notes Approximately 7.5 business hours after collection.

Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .6, C- 0

Compost bin

Landfill

Landfill, 5%

Recycle, 35% Compos

t, 60%

Recycle, 100%

Recycle, 5%

Compost, 95%


Landfill 6% 0.45 cu yd Landfill 1% 0.02 cu yd Landfill 0.2% 0.02 cu yd

Recycle 32% 2.49 cu yd Recycle 95% 2.56 cu yd Recycle 4% 0.34 cu yd

Compost 62% 4.86 cu yd Compost 4% 0.12 cu yd Compost 96% 7.74 cu yd

Landfill bin Landfill Recovered 0.45

Landfill Misplaced 0.04

Recycle bin Recycle Recovered 2.56

Recycle Misplaced 2.83

Compost bin Compost Recovered 7.74

Compost Misplaced 4.98

Totals of All Three Audits

Total of 7.8 cu yd of material were

audited over 3 audits

Landfill bin



Recycle bin



Compost bin

Total Materials in Landfill Bin Total Materials in Recycle Bin Total Materials in Compost Bin

0.45, 2% 0.04, 0%

2.56, 14%

2.83, 15%

7.74, 42%

4.98, 27%

Total Generation of Waste (cu yd)

Landfill Recovered

Landfill Misplaced

Recycle Recovered

Recycle Misplaced

Compost Recovered

Compost Misplaced

Landfill, 6%

Recycle, 32%

Compost, 62%

Landfill 1%

Recycle 95%

Compost 4%

Landfill 0%

Recycle 4%

Compost

96%

PIAZZA’S WASTE AUDIT REPORT

Conclusions and Next Steps

Waste Diversion and Reduction

In general, Piazza’s is doing moderately well at waste diversion. On all three of the

auditor’s visits, the majority of material in the compost and recycling bins was properly

sorted. The main area for improvement is the landfill bin, which on all three occasions

was mainly composed of compostable materials, and to a lesser extent recyclables. There

was very little true landfill waste in any of the bins.

From the fact that the majority of the material in the compost bin is produce, it appears

that the produce department is very diligent about composting its food waste. But the

primary compostable material in the landfill bin was leftovers from the prepared food bar,

so it appears that this department in particular is not diverting properly.

Suggested actions:

Make sure that all departments have convenient access to all three stream (landfill, recycling, and compost) bins behind the counter. Ideally the black

landfill bin should be much smaller than the recycle and compost ones, to serve as

a visual reminder to employees that a very small amount of their waste stream is

actual landfill waste.

o Preferably, compost bins should be lined with compostable plastic bags,

which Piazza’s carries.

o As a bonus, in order to more fully cultivate a store-wide culture of waste

diversion, the three stream bins could also be made available at the front

of house to customers. Since residents are (as of July 1st) now able to

compost food scraps and soiled paper products in their residential green

bins, many are becoming better educated about proper waste diversion.

Having these bins available for customers and having knowledgeable

employees able to assist them with what goes where reinforces the

communal emphasis on waste diversion.

Make sure all employees know what materials go in each stream. We can set

up a training session with GreenWaste to bring everyone up to speed.

Post informational signage with images showing what materials go in each

bin in the break room and other places where employees can easily see it.

It is important to separate non-donatable food from its packaging before

disposing of it. Containers of food liquid should be poured down the drain, and

the separated parts should be placed into their proper bins.

o One way to organize this separation is to appoint an interested member of

each department to serve as department green champion. This should

ideally be someone who would normally dispose of the materials in the

first place.


o The most important thing to avoid is putting any type of glass into the

compost bin. This severely reduces the value of the resulting compost and

poses a safety hazard to recipient farmers.

o The majority of plastic containers and films (eg. bags, container seals,

snack packaging) can be recycled in Palo Alto, the exceptions being

Styrofoam and dirty film plastics. Clean film plastics should be collected

together in a plastic bag before recycling. Containers only need to be clean

enough so that when turned upside down nothing drips out.

When considering new products to carry, take a product’s packaging into

account. The less packaging the better, and it is best if materials are compostable

or recyclable.

The store should continue to use its system of discounting items nearing their

sell-by dates and placing them on specially labelled shelves. Make sure to give

these shelves adequate signage, and consider advertising them in newsletters or

other media.

Consider offering tastes of items that are underselling or may not have

“caught on” as free samples to customers. If they are still underselling after a

period of sampling, then it makes sense to reduce/discontinue their stock.

Additionally, by focusing more on donating unsellable but still nutritive food,

Piazza’s will be able to circumvent these issues and save employee time

separating materials and disposing of items, among other environmental and

financial benefits.

Perishable Food Donation

The primary food category that is currently wasted but could easily be donated is

produce. The next most prevalent ones are leftovers from the prepared food bar, and dairy

products as well as any miscellaneous perishables that reach their sell-by dates. As it

happens, produce and other perishables are the most sorely needed and infrequently

donated category of food reported by food banks.

Suggested actions:

When culling produce and perishables at their sell-by dates from the shelves,

employees should have access to a reusable labeled bin for filling with

donation items, and after culling should promptly place the collected items in a

labeled fridge with space designated for donation.

o It makes sense to use excess cardboard produce boxes for holding

donations, if they are available. Keep the cardboard boxes in the fridge

and place the collected items in them throughout the day. Having

everything in disposable boxes makes donation pick up simple.


If culling happens only a few times throughout the day in most departments,

it makes sense for employees in each department to collect and promptly

refrigerate donatables on their own as the need arises.

o If culling happens at frequent regular intervals for many departments, it

may be more efficient to have workers at the different departments just

separate their donatables behind the counter, and then have a designated

‘donation runner’ go around at regular intervals to collect donatables from

all departments at once and refrigerate them.

o The maximum time that cold perishables can be left out and still

considered safe for donation is 2 hours, so this is the longest possible time

interval between donation runners’ rounds if this method is used.

Meat that reaches its sell-by date can be donated if it is frozen on that date.

Any frozen food donations must remain frozen until pick up. Leftovers from the

prepared food bar require more specific handling procedures, and Second Harvest

and its partners will assist in coordinating these donations.

It is important to assess the amount of donations that are generally collected

daily and on the different days of the week in order to coordinate with food bank

recipients and set a regular donation schedule with them.

o Second Harvest Food Bank will connect the store with local partner

agencies and assist with the logistics of transporting donations.

The store will likely want to incorporate a ‘donation’ designation into the

product spoils inventory system to keep track of quantity and type of items

donated, for accounting purposes and as a receipt for tax deductions.

By donating, composting, and recycling more, Piazza’s will likely be able to reduce its

landfill bin size, and potentially even its weekly service frequency, for a significant

decrease in the cost of waste collection service overall. Compost service is 10 percent

cheaper than landfill service in Palo Alto, and that discount will likely increase by early

next year (the matter is currently under discussion by Zero Waste). Additionally,

donations earn the store tax deductions.

Keep up the good work!


Contacts

Zero Waste Palo Alto

Phone: (650) 496-5910

[email protected]

P.O. Box 10250

Palo Alto, CA 94303

Second Harvest Food Bank

Phone: (408) 266-8866

https://www.shfb.org/contact

750 Curtner Avenue

San Jose CA 95125

GreenWaste of Palo Alto (waste hauler)

Phone: (650) 493-4894

www.greenwaste.com/paloalto 2000 Geng Road

Palo Alto CA 94303

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.shfb.org/contact

http://www.greenwaste.com/paloalto

piazza's waste audit report final

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