Monthly ERSL solid waste weight arrivals are shown for four
years in Fig. 8. Specific spikes in solid waste generation can be seen
in 2011 associated with large remodeling and construction at SEB,
with over 630 t entering the ERSL in June, 2011. This single month
solid waste arrival at the ERSL represents a 204% increase from
the previous month (May 2011), and is attributed to remodeling
renovations at SEB based on waste hauling receipts. An average
of 12% decrease in the monthly solid waste arrivals to the landfill
was seen during the seven months of food waste recycling in 2012
through 2013. Although the food and waste grease recycling was a
significant reduction in solid waste generation for SEB, this effort
would likely need to expand to other hotels and private homes on
Exuma to further reduce solid waste accumulation at the landfill.
The total recycling effort for SEB is summarized in Table 3. In all
71 tonnes of food waste was composted, and the compost is used
for private tropical fruit tree business on the island. 3300 l (870 ga)
of waste grease was collected in 8 months (Table 4 presents seven
months when food and oil were both collected).
The challenges with the waste food collection were (1) the
physical investment of time in moving, storing and redistributing
buckets by the SEB stewarding staff, (2) the high cost of hauling
and processing the food waste in 7-ga buckets and (3) the logistical
coordinationof bucketpick-upandre-distribution withhighly variable
food waste accumulation patterns. A surprising consequence
of the food waste recycling was the rapid fermentation of the food,
causing buckets to explode when left outside in the waste accumulation
areas for more than 12 h. Reliable coordination of the bucket
distribution, management and pickup was the responsibility of the
SEB staff, and there was no staff dedicated to this task over the
project life.
The challenge with the waste grease recycling was the variable
quality of the grease used in the SEB kitchen. Some fryers had filters
that prevented food particles from entering the metal grease
buckets, but many fryers did not. The animal fat used in the fryers
was highly variable in quality, not consistently changed, and
highly contaminated, thus the waste grease proved challenging for
producing a consistent quality of soap. Most of the soap produced
was suitable for industrial purposes (cleaning the food waste buckets
and the garbage trucks) but not for commercial sale as a body
soap. The energy required to clean the grease (heating grease with
water to remove food particles) decreased the economic viability
of grease recycling, even when using a solar oven. An overview of
the soap making process is shown in Fig. 9.
Outreach and educational material developed by RE was useful
in communicating the magnitude of the solid waste challenge
(Fig. 10). Few SEB employees had ever visited the ERSL, and no SEB
management staff has actually seen the disposal of the solid waste
at the ERSL. Because kitchen staff worked only selected shifts, the
cumulative weight of food waste coming from all the kitchens was
surprising to SEB employee (Fig. 10A). Most people simply did not
understand the economics of solid waste management, and did not
separate the costs of hauling from the cost of managing solid waste.
Bahamians living on islands with small human populations had a
history of using simple dumps for all solid wastes, resulting in longstanding
problems with feral dogs, rats and insect pests (Fielding,
2009).
Monthly ERSL solid waste weight arrivals are shown for fouryears in Fig. 8. Specific spikes in solid waste generation can be seenin 2011 associated with large remodeling and construction at SEB,with over 630 t entering the ERSL in June, 2011. This single monthsolid waste arrival at the ERSL represents a 204% increase fromthe previous month (May 2011), and is attributed to remodelingrenovations at SEB based on waste hauling receipts. An averageof 12% decrease in the monthly solid waste arrivals to the landfillwas seen during the seven months of food waste recycling in 2012through 2013. Although the food and waste grease recycling was asignificant reduction in solid waste generation for SEB, this effortwould likely need to expand to other hotels and private homes onExuma to further reduce solid waste accumulation at the landfill.The total recycling effort for SEB is summarized in Table 3. In all71 tonnes of food waste was composted, and the compost is usedfor private tropical fruit tree business on the island. 3300 l (870 ga)of waste grease was collected in 8 months (Table 4 presents sevenmonths when food and oil were both collected).The challenges with the waste food collection were (1) thephysical investment of time in moving, storing and redistributingbuckets by the SEB stewarding staff, (2) the high cost of haulingand processing the food waste in 7-ga buckets and (3) the logisticalcoordinationof bucketpick-upandre-distribution withhighly variablefood waste accumulation patterns. A surprising consequenceof the food waste recycling was the rapid fermentation of the food,causing buckets to explode when left outside in the waste accumulationareas for more than 12 h. Reliable coordination of the bucketdistribution, management and pickup was the responsibility of theSEB staff, and there was no staff dedicated to this task over theproject life.The challenge with the waste grease recycling was the variablequality of the grease used in the SEB kitchen. Some fryers had filtersthat prevented food particles from entering the metal greasebuckets, but many fryers did not. The animal fat used in the fryerswas highly variable in quality, not consistently changed, andhighly contaminated, thus the waste grease proved challenging forproducing a consistent quality of soap. Most of the soap producedwas suitable for industrial purposes (cleaning the food waste bucketsand the garbage trucks) but not for commercial sale as a bodysoap. The energy required to clean the grease (heating grease withwater to remove food particles) decreased the economic viabilityof grease recycling, even when using a solar oven. An overview ofthe soap making process is shown in Fig. 9.Outreach and educational material developed by RE was usefulin communicating the magnitude of the solid waste challenge(Fig. 10). Few SEB employees had ever visited the ERSL, and no SEBmanagement staff has actually seen the disposal of the solid wasteat the ERSL. Because kitchen staff worked only selected shifts, thecumulative weight of food waste coming from all the kitchens wassurprising to SEB employee (Fig. 10A). Most people simply did notunderstand the economics of solid waste management, and did notseparate the costs of hauling from the cost of managing solid waste.Bahamians living on islands with small human populations had ahistory of using simple dumps for all solid wastes, resulting in longstandingproblems with feral dogs, rats and insect pests (Fielding,2009).
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