Agri-Cycle handles thousands of tons of food waste each year from various sources, from New England groceries to Pennsylvanian manufacturers. But how does our food waste collection program work on the end of businesses? Today we’re going to look at the lynchpin of our services – the food waste containers. From tote bins to tankers, our staff will use these containers to help get food waste out of your garbage and bring your food full circle.
Types of Food Waste Containers We Provide
Our types of business partners vary significantly, meaning their needs in terms of food waste and their amounts are just as diverse. We provide businesses with the right kind of containers to meet their food waste and employee needs.
Our Food Waste Tote Bins
Perfect for being out on the publicly visible parts of your building or at residential drop-off points, our tote bins are our most used option. Ideal for employees to move to where they need them, these tote bins come with linings to make it easy for our workers to move the food waste to our collection trucks and contain smell-reducing additives. For when that’s not enough, we even have a tote washing trailer we can bring to you and summer storage tips.
Pallet Boxes and Other Larger Containers
Need larger options? We can provide pallet containers (sometimes known as “gaylords”) or open-top dumpsters for bigger projects, especially useful for larger manufacturers dealing with bulk food waste. This is also ideal for single-use or emergency services, or for dealing with packaged food that is expired or recalled and destined for our depackager.
Tanker and Roll-On Roll-Off Trucks
Of course, not all types of food waste are suitable for person-portable or even forklift-operated containers. For liquid food waste, such as from dairies (we were founded by one!), breweries, or even restaurant food grease, we have our tanker trucks that can pull up and empty your tanks. For mass loss or recalls where you’ll need a staggeringly sized container, we also have roll-on roll-off containers with trucks to match. Learn more about the Agri-Cycle truck fleet here.
How Our Food Waste Collection Program Works
So, where do these bins fit into our larger food waste recycling program? As you might guess from our name, we’re all about keeping food waste out of the landfill by recycling it into useful products. A simple breakdown of our process is as follows:
- Food Waste is collected from the totes by our truck fleet, brought to one of our processing facilities, and mixed with cow manure to form a slurry.
- The Anaerobic Digesters are fed this mixture, and the bacteria inside get to work. The process is similar to composting but captures both the biogas and waste heat of the process.
- Biogas and Heat are recovered from the process and used to create power, with the excess being sold back to the grid for more renewable power.
- Bio-separators take the remaining products and recover the liquid – perfect for fertilizer – for use as crops for animals at the farm and elsewhere. At the same time, the solid material is processed for bedding and compost.
For a more detailed breakdown of the entire process, check out our blog, How Agri-Cycle Brings Food Full Circle.
So, ready to start filling those bins with your food waste? At Agri-Cycle, we’re proud to help businesses across the East Coast – from Maine to Maryland – find more sustainable ways of dealing with all their food waste. Contact us today to get a quote customized to fit your needs or give us a call at 1-800-850-9560.