Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume IV, Issue
26, June 30,
2014
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
It's Pet
Peeve Week! and this week
I'm peeved about two common
Food Waste problems: those
little oval plastic
stickers on every
single apple, pear, plum,
and pomegranate - and the
Best By dates on everything
else.
Those
plastic stickers make the
cashier's job easier,
especially for those behind
the register who are
newbies to Food
Identification, and can't
tell an Asian Pear from a
Daikon Radish (really!).
For the past year or so,
I've been trying hard to
remember to pry those
thingies off my vegetables
and fruits because I'd
prefer not to have them
show up in my own backyard
compost a year later.
Sometimes they come off
clean enough to stick 'em
on a handy bit of plastic
in the recycle bin -
usually I end up gouging
out a chuck of apple. I had
to laugh though, when I
knew that the new brand of
bagged compost I had
purchased was indeed made
from Food Waste because
(yup) there were those
little plastic ovals, now
bleached of ink. But take
heart! Stickers made from
bioplastics are starting to
reach our produce shelves.
Chat up your local Produce
Manager, and Support
Compostable Fruit
Stickers.
Now on to
a more serious vexation
that is disturbing the
international food-tech
community enough to warrant
a scientifically-based
assessment (see news item
below). It is an industry
standard practice to print
"Best By", "Sell By", or
"Buy By" dates on any food
item that could eventually
spoil. Milk cartons sure
have 'em, as well as bread,
butter, crackers, boxes of
cereal, packaged meats,
frozen vegetables, soup to
nuts. Note that these dates
do not say "Eat Before this
Date or Puke." In reality
there is very little to
correlate that date with
when that item is too old
to still be Food. C'mon
folks: this is simply a
stock rotation helper to
make sure that the food
manufacturers keep new
packages on the shelves.
Gee, stores might not throw
NEARLY as much food in the
dumpster on such a regular
basis without them. Here's
to the long-standing
practice of Planned
Obsolescence!
Communities
are becoming aware that the
food that gets thrown out
costs for disposal, yet has
value that can be recovered
with a concerted effort.
Yes, a well designed
Anaerobic Digester can
economically turn
pulverized food scraps into
biogas and fertilizer.
Folks need non-fossil fuel
and energy, but the global
need for wholesome food
even trumps the need for
Renewables. We need to
manage the entire flow to
really implement a Circular
Economy and that includes
addressing all the little
vexations - including
plastic food stickers and
Best By dates.
Hey
Rube!
International guidance
pertinent to clean waste
conversion and effective
resource recovery often
translates curiously when we
attempt to apply them to local
concerns, but at least they can
provide key points to consider.
From such deep thinking, we can
develop Best Management
Practices in lieu of being
force-fed another layer of
regulations.
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This Week's Top Story
Supermarket
Runs on Power Generated
Solely from Its Own Food
Waste
United
Kingdom (UK) based
industry partners Biffa
and Sainsbury’s have
announced that they are
celebrating an innovative
facility that will allow
Sainsbury’s Cannock store
to run on power generated
solely from the
supermarket’s own food
waste.
06/25/2014
The
Week's News
ESA Releases
Draft Fire Guidance for
Waste Storage and
Processing
The
increase in the United
Kingdom (UK) in storage
and processing of biomass
and refuse derived
feedstock has been
accompanied by a dramatic
rise in the number and
severity of fires at
waste storage and
processing facilities.
06/27/2014
Celtic
Renewables to Start Next
Stage Testing of Whisky
Waste to
Biofuel
Edinburgh
based Celtic Renewables
has announced signing an
agreement with the Bio
Base Europe Pilot Plant
(BBEPP) in Ghent to
undergo next stage
testing of its process to
turn whisky by-products
into biofuel.
06/26/2014
Increased
Food Waste Results from
Confusing Date
Labeling
The
Institute of Food
Technologists (IFT) has
announced a new
scientific review paper
entitled "Applications
and Perceptions of Date
Labeling of Food." in the
July 2014 issue of
Comprehensive Reviews in
Food Science and Food
Safety.
06/26/2014
US DOE
Awards $100 Million for
Innovative Energy Frontier
Research
Centers
The US
Department of Energy
(DOE) has announced a
second round of funding
totaling $100 million for
support of the Energy
Frontier Research Center
program.
06/26/2014
Vega
Biofuels Will Ship 50K Tons
of Torrefied Bio-Coal per
Year to
Europe
US based
Vega Biofuels has
announced receiving an
order to ship its
Bio-Coal product to
European Power Companies.
6/25/2014
Cleanergy
Launches "GasBox" Low-Btu
Fuelled Stirling Engine for
CHP
Swedish
company Cleanergy has
announced advanced
testing and commercial
availability of its
modular Stirling-cycle
engine generator set,
designed to convert
low-grade landfill and
biogas to combined heat
and power.
06/24/2014
CHO Morcenx
Thermal Waste Conversion
Plant Completes Successful
Testing
French
parent company Europlasma
Group has announced that
its wholly-owned
subsidiary CHO-Power has
secured a Preliminary
Take-Over Certificate
(TOD) for operations at
its Morcenx waste and
biomass gasification
facility.
06/24/2014
ECUA
Requests Cost Proposals for
Florida Alternative Energy
Facility
The
Emerald Coast Utilities
Authority (ECUA) located
in northeastern Florida
has issued a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for a
waste conversion facility
to three previously
pre-qualified developers.
06/23/2014
PyroPure
Awarded UK Smart Grant
Funding for Medical Waste
Solution
PyroPure
Ltd has announced receipt
of an award of £165,200
in Smart grant funding
from the United Kingdom's
(UK) Technology Strategy
Board (TSB) to advance
the collection and
disposal of clinical
waste.
06/23/2014
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