Using an image processing program, items in the trash photos
were identified as “food and compostable waste” or “not compostable”.
Data points were accumulated to look at the percent
food waste out of the total volume of waste coming out of the
kitchens. Volumes were converted to waste weighs using hauling
scale records and International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) Volume to Weight conversion tables4. Box plots were used to show
the spread of data over the two-week periods to capture the variability
in the amount of compostable waste in the solid waste
stream over time and space for the SEB kitchens. The trends in
waste generation from the kitchens illustrate temporal and spatial
variability (over the full day at different kitchens) for seasonal
changes in occupancy and events. The box plots can indicate two
aspects of waste generation: the central tendency of a parameter,
and the range of variability of these parameters (food as a percent
of total solid wastes generated). The variability in solid waste
composition can translate to challenges to supply the quantity of
containers needed in the right place atthe righttime for food waste
sorting.