Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station [Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group]
Tablewaste

Introduction

FOOD WASTE RECYCLING FOR THE ECONOMY AND FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE

Oil prices have hit more than $125per barrel. As a result, the cost of driving will continue to increase, as will the cost of transporting all of our food and consumer products. These increases will surely show up in the final price for those products. Many petroleum-based products, including fertilizer and plastics, will see price increases.  In short, the cost of living will go up, particularly in a state such as New Jersey, where the cost of living is already high.

At a time when oil is so costly, it is useful also to reflect on the fact that there are no oil wells in New Jersey. When New Jerseyans buy oil, money is sent out of state—or more likely, out of the country. While New Jersey does have refineries in state, which provide employment, the refineries belong to international corporations, not local companies. 

Food waste could be the raw material for products which can replace those made from petroleum sources—including biofuels for vehicles or buildings, fertilizers and soil amendments [ bioproducts].  Food waste could be the raw material for a new local food waste recycling industry. If used as a natural resource, food waste could be considered one of our state’s most plentiful natural resources. A food waste recycling industry could keep dollars working in New Jersey, rather than being sent out of state or out of country.  It could also create jobs. 

What about hungry people?  We often send food as waste when it could be sent to hungry people instead.  Read a case study from one member of our extensive state and regional network of food banks.

Finally, food waste recycling can be the most important step in abating methane production from landfills, which are the primary U.S. contributor of methane, a greenhouse gas with 72 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

 

 

 

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