1. Insert Gaia Picture Here
State of Texas Alliance for Recycling City of Denton Food Waste Pilot Program
Shirlene Sitton – City of Denton and Scott Pasternak - SAIC
October 2011

2. Overview
Local and national grocers wanting to divert food waste from landfills to composting
Differences in WW and MSW Permits caused Denton to explore other technologies
Pilot completed with grant funding from TCEQ via NCTCOG
SAIC provided consulting assistance for the pilot program

3. City selected GaiaRecycles system G-200H
Pilot Program
City selected GaiaRecycles system G-200H
Thermal dewatering unit
Can process 220 pounds of organics in 8-11 hours
Product is a mostly dehydrated semi-compost
Pilot customers were Wal-Mart and Cupboard Natural Foods

4. Accepted Materials

5. Pilot Program
SAIC and COD staff trained participants and supplied instructional materials
Food waste collected in 32-gallon and 64-gallon lockable carts collected with appliance truck
Large carts replaced with smaller ones due to weight

6. Evaluation of Program Results – Processing Pros
Manual collection by staff allowed visual inspection and cart maintenance (lining with Kraft bags)
Processed non-petruscible material that decreased in volume, and can be easily stored
Process generated few nuisances or vector issues
Gaia system performed consistently with little downtime

7. Evaluation of Program Results – Processing Cons
Top-loading required manual lifting of 200 lb carts
Required two times as many carts as conventional
Minimal collection capacity and labor intensive
No end-market for the product
Limited capacity of system
Loading chute

8. Key Findings and Recommendations
Pilot Program Results
GaiaRecycle System not financially feasible for a large-scale program of commercial food scraps for the City
Technology is suited for on-site processing where transportation is not required (ex: Wake Forest University) and end-markets exist
Large Scale Composting Options
Windrow composting site
Expand existing partnership with Denton Beneficial Reuse Center
Explore dumpster and cart collection of commercial food scraps