Forum Series Sparks a Green Approach to Waste Management

New Brunswick, N.J. — The Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group (SWRRG) at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has just finished its first year of county-based food waste recycling forums, and participants who signed up for food waste recycling are already finding some additional benefits.

“I attended SWRRG’s second Forum in Mercer County last December,” said Charles Link, director of engineering at Hyatt Regency Princeton. “After attending the forum, I had a waste audit completed in order to plan my food waste recycling. Through it, I discovered ways to make all of the hotel’s recycling better and to save the property money while reducing our carbon footprint. Now we’re becoming known as a model of sustainability in our area.”

Each of the events in the SWRRG forum series features basic information for food waste generators, such as restaurants, schools and hospitals, on implementing a food waste recycling system. Generators learn about waste audits, which they can even do themselves. Each forum features representatives of the various facilities in place or in development in the state, including on-site facilities they can operate themselves, and haulers for food waste. Generators learn about when and why it is important to switch to biodegradable plastic. Finally, generators learn about opportunities for self promotion as sustainable businesses, both through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program and through a new organization for New Jersey called Food and Organics Recycling for New Jersey (FOR NJ).

Link took information home from the December 2007 forum and implemented it at the hotel. Hyatt Regency Princeton is not only finding opportunities to be promoted as a WasteWise member — Link has been invited to tell his story at a regional EPA event in January — but Link has the Hyatt hotel on track to become the first generator to achieve certification under the new FOR NJ program.

Hyatt Regency Princeton has already completed four of five steps for certification: the waste audit, a purchasing audit for biodegradable plastic liners, signing up for WasteWise and FOR NJ membership and signing up with a hauler to have food waste hauled away. A forum is planned on January 30, 2009, to complete the final requirement, creating a wasteshed.

“A wasteshed involves putting together a cost-effective, compact hauling route so that everyone gets the lowest prices for food waste recycling,” said Priscilla Hayes, director of SWRRG and one of the primary organizers of FOR NJ. “Hyatt Regency Princeton is creating a wasteshed by educating its neighbors about the benefits of food waste recycling with the goal of getting them to sign onto a route with the hotel.”

The forum will feature Charles Link’s case study, as well as presentations on setting up food waste systems and creating cost-effective routes by Priscilla Hayes and Michael Manna of Environmental Resources. To sign up for the forum, please call Charles Link at 609-734-4245 or Priscilla Hayes at 732-932-9155, ext. 233 or email at hayes@aesop.rutgers.edu.

About the Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group

For more than 10 years, the Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group (SWRRG) at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has provided leadership and coordination in various innovative waste-reduction and recycling focus areas, including food waste, computers, fluorescent light bulbs, mercury-containing devices, waste paint and green purchasing/ environmentally preferable purchasing. Through the only New Jersey-wide food residuals recycling initiative, SWRRG has brought together waste generators, recyclers and government to find optimal ways of diverting food waste away from methane production in landfills and into the production of energy and soil amendments, which are vitally needed in the state and adjoining regions. The SWRRG has provided assistance to entrepreneurs and generators for planning systems; conducted research and outreach; completed numerous waste audits and facility visits; and created a website and other tools for all stakeholders. www.swrrg.rutgers.edu

About Hyatt Regency Princeton

Hyatt Regency Princeton is a 347-room full-service hotel situated within the Carnegie Center office complex near Fortune 100 companies. It is conveniently located a mile from Princeton University and Princeton Junction Train Station. The hotel features a five-story garden style atrium with Koi ponds and 20,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a fitness center and indoor pool. For reservations and additional information, call 609-987-1234 or visit www.princeton.hyatt.com.