Finding Hidden Value in Food & Beverage Waste Streams

This episode is brought to you by Envita Solutions.

As food and beverage processors look for ways to enhance their sustainability efforts, more of them are turning toward their production waste streams to find hidden value. Scott Cole, senior director, Strategic Growth for Food & Beverage, for Envita Solutions, discusses some of the initiatives and innovations processors can look into that can help them both save on costs and also protect the environment around them.

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Scott Cole: Food and beverage companies spend millions of dollars every year just throwing things away, and what they don't realize is that a lot of these waste streams could potentially be a source of profit for them. With the right data and analytics, we can help uncover the hidden values in what they once thought was just trash. To determine this, we have four themes to help educate and identify this hidden value. The first theme is having insight into your waste. A lot of manufacturers just don't know what's in their waste. We go on site with the customer to analyze waste streams and see what's there. One of the big things we see are production inefficiencies, whether it's in production itself or at the end of the line where they're just throwing things away. From there, you can get some clarity into your costs. Once you have the data, you can start breaking down your disposal costs plant by plant, product or waste stream. Suddenly, you can see where you're losing money. After you have the insight and cost clarity, you can turn that trash into value. Some of these byproducts can be sold, and data helps show if there's enough supply, volume (which is critical) and consistency to make it a viable revenue-generating stream. Finally, predictive analytics can help stop the waste before it happens, looking at things like expiration dates and how to increase efficiency or align raw materials with demand more accurately.

FP: What are some of the more innovative or sustainable outlets emerging for various waste types?

SC: As I mentioned before, a lot of people view trash as just trash, but really the scraps and organic byproducts are more than that. Organic byproducts are things like fruit, spent grains, vegetable trimmings, coffee husks, etc. — a lot of which can be used as animal feed, soil amendments, essential oils, natural dyes or even bioactive compounds in nutraceuticals. Then you have companies turning food processing waste into bioenergy, essentially taking organic material waste and turning it into a biogas, which then in turn can power facilities. And the residual solid waste that comes out of that can be used as a compost or soil conditioner. Next, you have the packaging materials. We know packaging waste, plastics, styrofoams, multilayer materials have always been a huge headache, but there are some solutions popping up: compostable packaging material that's made from plant fibers, for example, or recycled and upcycled packaging that can be repackaged or repurposed. There are also improvements to the design of the upcycled packaging allowing the materials to be recycled or reused several times over. Beyond that, wastewater is another big one, with a hidden value that not a lot of manufacturers really think about. You can capture and recover nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to make fertilizer. Finally, one of the things that intrigues me is the use of off cuts from fruits and vegetables for food ingredients like purees, sauces and upcycled snacks.

FP: How do you help companies measure the true cost of waste beyond just hauling and disposal fees?

SC: There are several layers to setting up the most efficient systems and programs. As I mentioned, we do on-site visits, walk with the team, and look at every single point of production. We look at how material comes into the building, how is it unpackaged, sorted, separated and then used throughout production. Do we have waste? Are there places where we could capture that waste? If so, how can we take that and create efficiencies internally? Then we have a nationwide network of suppliers to receive these materials; we're not beholden to one large corporate entity. This allows us to have the supply chain and logistic capabilities to get various streams from point A to point B. This also gives us the ability to provide accurate diversion data for material-specific tracking and reporting through a proprietary, customizable system. Secondly, we work continuously to meet zero-waste goals. We have an operational team dedicated to customer satisfaction, as well as ways to continuously look for optimization opportunities for the waste and recycling program. We are a “one-stop shop” for waste and recycling in the food and beverage industry. We want to pull as much out of the waste stream as possible and convert it into a revenue generating stream if possible. We have sustainability and compliance documentation that can help with carbon footprint calculations and sustainability reporting. We can also provide any certification they may need.

FP: For companies just starting out here, what would you advise as the first step they can take to start finding value in their waste stream?

SC: First, reach out and ask questions. Then, be open to change and have a different view of what waste really is and it’s potential, whether it's recycling, animal feed or other outlets. We’ve witnessed this fundamental shift: Waste had always been a back-of-the-house necessity, but now it's become a strategic business function. Companies want their waste to contribute to the bottom line. We take a three-pronged approach; it's not exactly a linear vision. You have to consider what the operational leaders, procurement leaders and sustainability leaders all need. When you put together this comprehensive program, it really helps you achieve your waste and recycling goals. As a true partner, that’s what we try to do.