The City of Philadelphia and a maker of food scrap disposers have launched a project meant to gauge how well the devices could divert organics from landfills in the city.
The new initiative, dubbed “Clean Kitchen, Green Community,” is a collaboration between Philadelphia’s Streets Department and InSinkErator, a company that makes food scrap disposers, that will take the form of a pilot program aimed at examining how the devices can help the City of Brotherly love achieve its sustainability goals.
As part of the project, Philadelphia will launch a citywide campaign on the benefits of using a food scrap disposer. Additionally, residents along garbage collection routes in the neighborhoods of West Oak Lane and Point Breeze will be involved in a targeted installation and education initiative to find out how much food waste can be diverted from landfills using disposers.
“Disposers were used first for convenience and hygiene, but now they’re being used for environmental purposes,” said Carol Baricovich, manager of brand communications for InSinkErator.
According to Baricovich, the Racine, Wisconsin-based company knew officials with the City of Philadelphia who were interested in diverting more organics from landfill, and the partnership emerged.
As part of the project, the city and InSinkErator will be working with two community organizations active in the neighborhoods to install food waste disposers for 100 homeowners. The food scraps sent through the disposers will be transported through pipes to the city’s advanced wastewater treatment plants, where methane will be collected from the material for energy and the remaining solids will become fertilizer pellets.
The Streets Department will assess the volume and composition of waste generated before, during and after the pilot, and evaluate reductions and changes that result from the targeted installation campaign.
