POWER – Accomplished

In 2009 POWER – Perishable Organics Waste to Energy Recycling – was formed to address the emerging technologies for commercial food waste destinations. Founded within the Green Foodservice Alliance, POWER  moved to Ei upon incorporation in February 2010 .

Industry leaders traveled from across the nation to engage in the formation of an emerging industry. Presentations ran the gamut from windrow | aerated-static-pile composting, anaerobic digestion, plasma, soldier flies to bio-char programs for commercial food waste destinations. In addition, complementary industry topics were discussed as well as addressing end markets and related economic viability.

The final POWER meeting was hosted in January 2012 via a session at the annual U.S. Composting Council. As the food-waste-destination industry matured, the POWER meetings served as a platform to catapult an emerging industry into an established industry. Mission Accomplished!

Below is the original POWER website page copy including the formal mission statement.

Collaboration is one of the keys to Ei’s success. Ei Strategic Partners contribute their expertise and industry connections to maximize the impact of Ei initiatives.

POWER Mission: To explore and evaluate the highest good collection, recycling, and use of perishable organics and make recommendations for deployment of economically viable projects within a defined geographic region

POWER meetings include presentations by industry experts on options for use of perishable organics, collection systems available, and challenges faced in current projects.

Lively dialogue among participants is encouraged for maximum exploration and collaborative efforts. POWER members include professionals from government, non-profits, trade associations, universities, research institutes and private enterprise.

Working in conjunction with the Zero Waste Zones Team, the immediate POWER focus is creating a strong infrastructure within the foodservice industry for clean source separation and efficient food-residual collection for composting or waste-to-energy facilities.

Roadblocks to creating economically viable ventures include:

  • Availability of permitted facilities for perishable organic composting and other options.
  • Collection system infrastructure.
  • Feedstock contamination at the source, whether consumer or commercial.

The roadblocks are addressed at meetings along with emerging technology and solutions for diverting perishable organics from landfills.

POWER meets twice per year to report the action taken by the POWER Steering Committee along with new technologies available for perishable organics.

POWER meeting agendas, participants, notes and presentations are available for download in the below annual meeting listing.

POWER Meeting Notes, Agendas & PPTs

JANUARY 18, 2012

The POWER meeting was a session at the U.S. Composting Council Annual Conference held in Austin, TX.
POWER Agenda (65 KB)

PRESENTATIONS

Scott Seydel POWER Overview (431 KB)
Chris Moyer NRA -ZWZ-Ei Partnership (9996 KB)
Doug Kunnemann / Holy Elmore SFCI Update (662 KB)
Brenda Platt Sustainable Foodservice Packaging(9449 KB)
Chris Moyer – Importance of Industry Collaboration (1048 KB)
Wayne King – The Soil Water Connection (13032 KB)

ZWZ Blog post, USCC 20th Annual Conference – STELLAR!, gives an overview to the POWER meeting.

The Ei FB album, USCC Conference – Austin, TX, is a pictorial recap.

JANUARY 24, 2011 MEETING
PRESENTATIONS
APRIL 22, 2011
PRESENTATIONS
APRIL 1, 2010
PRESENTATIONS:
  • Challenges in Perishable Organic Collection ~ John Casagrande, Waste Management
  • Commercial Use of Compost ~ Britt Faucette, Ph.D, filtrexx
  • Organics to Fertilizer ~ Jack Walsdorf, Converted Organics
    Converted Organics (7714 KB)
OCTOBER 22, 2009
DECEMBER 17, 2009

Ei Online Magazines