F

or restaurants, hotel s, and compani es wi th

foodservi ce operati ons, col l ecti ng food scraps for
use as l i vestock feed can be a practi cal opti on and
a great WasteWi $e goal . Even i f your company i s l ocated i n
a ci ty, there may be farms l ocated nearby that can use your
scraps. Reusi ng food scraps as hog and cattl e feed di verts
waste from the l andfi l l and can save your company money
i n haul i ng and di sposal costs. For exampl e, WasteWi $e
partner 3M saves more than $30,000 annual l y by sendi ng
i ts food scraps to a nearby farm. Over two
years, thi s acti on has di verted 90,000
pounds of food from di sposal .
Managing Food Scraps as
Animal Feed
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA530-F-96-037
September 1996
1EPA
Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5306W)
This tipsheet was
developed by
WasteWi$e, EPAs
voluntary program
which assists
businesses in
taking cost-
eff ective actions
to reduce solid
waste, through
waste prevention,
recycling, and
buying recycled
products.
Safe St orage and Handling Procedures
C
ol l ecti ng food scraps for use as ani mal feed requi res l ess effort on the part of
the producer than you mi ght i magi ne. Al l you wi l l need to do i s separate the
food scraps from other waste materi al s and keep the food covered and
refri gerated (or stored i n a cool pl ace) unti l a farmer i s abl e to pi ck i t up. Some
farmers wi l l provi de you wi th reusabl e ai rti ght contai ners for stori ng your food
scraps unti l they are pi cked up. Certai n foods, such as coffee grounds and scraps
wi th hi gh concentrati ons of sal t, shoul d be separated from food you pl an to donate,
as they can be harmful to l i vestock.
Permit t ing and Ot her Requirement s
T
here are no known permi tti ng requi rements for donors of food scraps. It i s,
however, i mportant that you fi nd a farmer that has a permi t to accept
commerci al food scraps for feedi ng to l i vestock. The 1980 federal Swi ne
Heal th Protecti on Act requi res that farmers boi l any food scraps contai ni ng meat
before they can be used as l i vestock feed. State l aws regardi ng treatment of non-
meat scraps used as ani mal feed vary; some states requi re that the scraps be boi l ed,
whi l e others i mpose no regul ati ons. Some states prohi bi t scraps from cafeteri as,
restaurants, or grocery stores from bei ng fed to ani mal s. Check wi th your state
veteri nari an to fi nd out i f reusi ng food scraps as ani mal feed i s permi tted i n your
state.
Locat ing a Farmer
I
n setti ng up a food scrap reuse program you need to coordi nate your acti vi ti es
wi th a l ocal farmer. Onl y certai n farms are l i censed to prepare and feed
commerci al food scraps to l i vestock. If feedi ng food scraps to l i vestock i s
permi tted i n your state, your state veteri nari an shoul d be abl e to assi st you i n
l ocati ng a l i censed farmer. You may be abl e to fi nd an organi zati on i n your area,
such as your county extensi on offi ce or a pri vate haul er, that coordi nates acti vi ti es
wi th farmers. A l ocal farmers market may al so hel p you fi nd a farmer. In addi ti on,
you may want to run an adverti sement i n your l ocal newspaper.
G E T T I N G S T A R T E D
Di fferent farmers may have varyi ng demand for food scraps.
Some may be wi l l i ng to accept any amount of food, regardl ess of
si ze, whi l e others may not be wi l l i ng to col l ect smal l
quanti ti es. Before you l ocate a farmer, try to esti mate the
vol ume of food scraps you generate dai l y or weekl ythi s may
determi ne what ki nd of arrangements you ul ti matel y negoti ate.
Your food scrap generati on may vary on a dai l y basi s,
produci ng hi gher vol umes on some days than others. Some
compani es may hol d speci al weekl y events that are responsi bl e
for the bul k of thei r food scraps. Eval uati ng the frequency wi th
whi ch you generate food scraps wi l l hel p you determi ne i f
col l ecti ng food scraps for ani mal feed i s a feasi bl e opti on. It wi l l
al so hel p you establ i sh a pi ck-up schedul e wi th a farmer i f you
deci de to col l ect your scraps.
Many farmers wi l l col l ect your food scraps dai l y and provi de
you wi th ai rti ght contai ners for stori ng the scraps. Farmers
usual l y requi re that the food i s kept i n ei ther a refri gerator or
other cool pl ace unti l pi ck-up. If you make arrangements wi th a
farmer who does not col l ect scraps dai l y, ask the farmer i f you
need to take any addi ti onal precauti ons to keep the food fresh to
accommodate a l ess frequent pi ck-up schedul e.
Storage contai ners for food scraps can be qui te l arge (55-
gal l on drums or 32-gal l on barrel s). You may want to desi gnate a
storage space i n advance and factor your space avai l abi l i ty i nto
pi ck-up and other arrangements wi th a farmer.
I S S U E S T O C O N S I D E R
I s the quantity of food
scraps sufficient to
make the food reuse
project worthwhile?
Do you generate the
food scraps on a routine
basis? (Daily, weekly,
etc.)
Can the material be
kept fresh until it can
be picked up by a
farmer?
Do you have adequate
storage space to hold
the material until it can
be picked up?
Before you establish a program for collecting food scraps for animal feed, you should
evaluate its feasibility. You may want to consider the following points:
Some companies may be able to sell their scraps to farmers, while others may need to
pay a pick-up fee. Pick-up fees tend to be nominal and are usually far less than landfill
tipping fees. Thus, even if there is a pick-up charge, it still may be cost-effective for you
to collect your food scraps for animal feed.
Bell At lant ic:
A Donat ion Success St ory
I
n March 1993 Bel l Atl anti c, a
WasteWi $e charter partner i n East
Orange, New Jersey, began donati ng food
scraps from i ts cafeteri a, whi ch feeds 600
empl oyees dai l y, to l ocal farmers. The
company had made earl i er attempts to
establ i sh a food scraps donati on program
but encountered di ffi cul ti es i n fi ndi ng
farmers that were permi tted to prepare and
feed cafeteri a scraps to thei r l i vestock. Thi s
al l changed when, at a conference of state
recycl ers, Bel l Atl anti c found a l ocal
busi ness that acted as a broker between
compani es and farmers to faci l i tate the
donati on process. Bel l Atl anti cs cafeteri a
empl oyees si mpl y began separati ng food
scraps from other cafeteri a trash and pl aci ng
them i n covered pl asti c barrel s i n a speci al
col l ecti on area for pi ck-up; no extra ti me or
work was necessary. Bel l Atl anti c
empl oyees were qui te enthusi asti c about
thei r new effort: several of them even had
thei r pi cture taken wi th a pi g who i s fed
wi th company food scraps! Accordi ng to
Maureen Burke, recycl i ng coordi nator at
Bel l Atl anti c, the key to a successful
donati on program i s fi ndi ng someone wi th a
rel i abl e pi ck-up schedul e. Apparentl y, the
company found just that: Bel l Atl anti c
donated 10,000 pounds of food scraps as
ani mal feed i n 1994.
3M Turns Food Scraps
int o Cash
3
M, a WasteWi $e charter partner i n St.
Paul , Mi nnesota, di scovered that
turni ng food scraps and edi bl e oi l s i nto
hog feed not onl y di verts waste from the
l andfi l l , but al so saves the company money.
3M Food Servi ces, whi ch prepares
thousands of meal s dai l y for 12,000
empl oyees, found that di sposi ng of the
companys food preparati on waste was a
messy and costl y endeavor and began to
expl ore creati ve di sposal sol uti ons. The
company hi red an envi ronmental
consul tant, who suggested usi ng food scraps
and oi l as hog feed, and l ocated a fami l y
farmi ng operati on experi enced i n col l ecti ng
and prepari ng recl ai med food. To i ncrease
understandi ng between the groups, farm
empl oyees toured 3M Food Servi ces, and
3M empl oyees vi si ted the farm. Accordi ng
to Bob Bl anchard at 3M Food Servi ces,
educati ng Food Servi ces empl oyees was the
key to the programs success. Says
Bl anchard: They understood the scraps
were goi ng to feed hogs and recogni zed the
i mportance of keepi ng paper, gl ass, and
metal from mi xi ng wi th the food scraps. In
the programs fi rst two years, 90,000 pounds
of food scraps and edi bl e oi l s were used as
hog feed and di verted from the l andfi l l or
i nci nerator. Thi s has transl ated i nto a
savi ngs of more than $30,000 for 3M.
I
f you are i nterested i n col l ecti ng your
food scraps for l i vestock feed, you
shoul d contact:
Your county agri cul tural extensi on,
where avai l abl e
Your state veteri nari an
Your county heal th department
These sources shoul d be abl e to provi de you
wi th i nformati on regardi ng your states
l aws governi ng food scraps for ani mal feed
and may be abl e to hel p you l ocate a
l i censed farmer. You can general l y fi nd a
l i sti ng for your state veteri nari an i n the
phone book under your states Department
of Agri cul ture or Board of Ani mal Heal th.
Resources
S U C C E S S S T O R I E S
The WasteWi$e program gratefully acknowledges the
Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) for its help in preparing this document.
For more information on the WasteWi$e program, call 800 EPA-WI SE