Close the Loop! Food Scrap Toter Rejection Policy

 Close the Loop! Food Scrap Toter Rejection Policy PO Box 503 | Hardwick, VT 05843 (802) 472-­‐5138 www.highfieldscomposting.org As defined in the Participant Agreements for Close the Loop! food scrap collection programs, the hauler may reject a tote(s) of food scraps granted: 1. More than 5 items of easily removable trash are found in a manual search of the top 6” of the tote, or 2. Any amount of trash that is difficult to remove such as butter wrappers, disposable tableware, packaged produce, broken glass, Styrofoam packaging, etc. is found. • NOTE: Picture 1 shows a rejected tote of food scraps with butter foil wrappers, yogurt containers and foil lids, and other small pieces of plastic trash that are Picture 1: Trash Contamination visible immediately on the surface of the tote. These items are small and difficult to remove from the food scraps. Therefore the tote of food scraps meets BOTH criteria for rejection. When totes are rejected the hauler should: 1. Make the best effort possible to verbally communicate the tote rejection to the food scrap generator point of contact. Points of contact are listed for each food scrap generator on the route Collection Sheets that are maintained by Highfields. • If no in-­‐person verbal notice of the rejection can be made, the hauler should leave a phone message for the generator regarding the tote rejection. Likewise, relevant phone numbers for each generator are listed on the route Collection Sheets. 2. Leave a written rejection notice on each rejected tote of food scraps. • NOTE: Pictures 2 and 3 show an example of a standard tote rejection, with yellow (or orange) masking tape affixed temporarily to the lid or handle of the tote. When possible the driver should write, “REJECTED” on the masking tape with the corresponding date of the rejection. 3. Notify Highfields’ Close the Loop! staff within 24 hours regarding the rejection, reasons for rejection, and brief summary of actions taken to alert food scrap generator. Picture 3: "REJECTED" Tote Label With Date of Rejection Following a tote rejection, generally the food scrap generator has these options: Picture 2: Rejected Tote With Yellow Masking Tape 1.
2.
Contact their regular solid waste hauler to arrange for the rejected tote(s) of food scraps to be picked up for disposal with the rest of the institution’s trash, Dump the contaminated food scraps directly into their dumpster/compactor for disposal, or 2 Highfields Center for Composting | www.highfieldscomposting.org | (802) 472-­‐5138 3.
Dump out the food scraps and remove all pieces of garbage and then replace the food scraps in the totes for pick up, • NOTE: Upon disposal of rejected food scraps it is the responsibility of the food scrap generator to wash emptied totes. Full totes of food scraps may way in excess of 200 pounds. Extreme caution should be exercised to avoid bodily injury. Following a rejection of food scraps, Highfields will: 1. Contact the food scrap generator point of contact to discuss the contamination. 2. If needed, schedule a compost re-­‐training for staff or students, which could target suspect contaminants and strategies for eliminating them, o If needed, Highfields may schedule a targeted (departmental) re-­‐training for dealing with contamination, e.g. targeting different groups of students or lunch periods, eating/meal times, or dish room kitchen staff, etc. 3. Provide information and support to encourage the school to move towards zero waste purchasing and food serving practices. Zero waste practices are those that eliminate all (unnecessary) waste in a process. Reducing the amount of waste, such as plastic packaging, disposable utensils, etc., can also reduce the amount of trash that could end up in the compost totes. 3 Highfields Center for Composting | www.highfieldscomposting.org | (802) 472-­‐5138