Recipient Organization
TUBS, INC.
715 FLORIDA AVE S STE 406A
MINNEAPOLIS,MN 55426
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Deputy Administrator Stan Meilburg recently announced (9/16/15) the first ever national food waste reduction goal, callling for a reduction of 50% by 2030."The United States enjoys the most productive and abundant supply on earth but too much of the food goes to waste" says Tom Vilsack."By reducing wasted food in landfills, we cut harmful methane emissions that fuel climate change, conserve our natural resources, and protect our planet for future generations" says EPA Administrator Gina McCarty.Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in US landfills. The EPA estimates this amounts to 34 million tons with an extimated cost of $1.3 billion (Schwab, 2013). While there are multiple efforts to reduce and recycle food waste, only 3% is recycled (EPA, 2012). These food wastes are lost at multiple levels of the food supply and consumption chain.Therefore, it is clear that food waste is an increasing concern.The EPA has published the Food Waste Hierarchy (EPA 2012) that identifies best practices for managing food waste. After source reduction and reuse feeding hungry people, the highest recycling priority is converting food waste to animal feed. This is ahead of industrial recycling options such as anaerobic digestion, composting, and ahead of landfills.Feed is the largest single cost item for livestock and poultry production, accounting for 60% to 70% of the total cost in many years (Naylor, 2005). The demand for feed corn has been impacted by the use of corn for ethanol raising the cost of feed for livestock producers and adding to the volatility of prices.Our proposal will prove the feasibilty of diverting food waste to animal feed. This will offer hog producers a viable nutritionally beneficial alternative to corn and soybean meal.Our mobile modular food waste processor (MMFWP) is a patent pending vessel that collects food waste from food waste generators. The food wastecollected and contained in the MMFWP tank is delivered to a central location, the tank with the food waste still contained within is unloaded from the vehicle, and the tank hooked up to a heat transfer unit. Through a thermal process, the food waste is dehydrated to a level of 12% or less eliminating the potential for pathogen regrowth and allowing for a shelf life.In this thermal process, the pathogens are killed while not degrading the nutritional content of the food waste.The patent pending MMFWP has been built as a prototype and successfully operated.The goal of the proposal in Phase 1 is:1) To validate to hog producers that converting food waste to animal feed with the technology applied by the MMFWP has equivalent if not superior nutritional benefits compared to soybean meal and corn. This is critical to the business model by ensuring an outlet for the animal feed. 2) To validate that this nutritional benefit is indeed digestible by swine even after the thermal processing. Again necessary to give confidence to hog producers that the output has been proven to be an acceptable source of animal feed. This then supports the economics of the business model dependent on the feed market for the sale of the output.3) To establish the bench mark price of the output. Pricing the output is critical to building a viable commercial operation.For this proposal, arrangements have been made to collect food waste from three generators and process the food waste utilizing the MMFWP:1) Fish distributor/processor (fish waste)2) Produce distributor/processor (fruitand vegetable waste)3) Grocery store (mixed food wastes). A good representation of the heterogenity of food waste expected from generators such as restaurants andcafeterias. It will be a broad mix of waste from the deli (both hot & cold), butcher department, fruits and vegetables, bakery and dairy.The proposal includes critical research performed by the the University of Minneaota Department of Animal Science under the direction of Dr. Gerald Shurson and Dr. Pedro Urriola both of whom are swine specialists.THe processed food waste (output) will be transported to the University of Minnesota Southern Research Center in Waseca, Minnesota. At this site, through established testing methods, 36 pigs will be fed the output. Targeted nutritional components will be analyzed for digestibility of the processed food waste by swine.Preliminary results from operating the MMFWP have shown the nutritional content of the output is comparable to corn and soy bean meal. With the proposed research, we will demonstrate that the processed food waste and the nutritional content of the output is also digestible by swine. This is critical in satisfying any concerns from hog producers that processed food waste can be a viable alternative to current feeding diets.The impact could be considerable:1) The University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science estimates 125 million market pigs couldbe fed on food waste (Dr. Pedro Urriola, 2015) making a significant reduction in the pressure of planting corn and soy beans for feeding these pigs.2) Food waste could now be viewed as a resource with economic benefits. Eliminating landfilling and contributing to a cleaner environment.3) Once digestibility is proven and the benchmark pricing for the output is established, the potential commercial application is promising. The MMFWP is designed to easily scale to meet the market sizes of any metro area, to easily add capacity as the supply of food waste and demand for animal feed grows. The system has a relatively low capital cost compared to current alternatives such as anaerobic digesters and composting facilities and will cost no more than a single refuse truck. Our process produces an animal feed that will be nutritionally benefical to swine and pathogen free. It will be dried to allow for a shelf life and the ability to ship to hog producers regardless of location.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
There are limitation in converting food waste into animal feed. These limitations include:1) Concentration and variability of nutrients2) Control of pathogens3) Logistics of collecting and processingThese limitations can be well addressed and solved with good sourcing, innovative processing technology, and well designed waste management programs.In addition there are challenges to overcome:1) Food wastes are mostly wet which increases the cost of transportation from the sources of food waste found primarily in cities to the places of utilization found primarily in rural areas2) Pathogen transmission is another challenge when feeding human food waste to livestock. The Swine Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.,) states that for the health and welfare of the people of the United States, all material containing raw or uncooked meat can be feed to pigs only if it has been treated to kill disease organisms.3) Of the methods to treat and kill potentially harmful pathogens, thermal treatments are the most common however, an additional challenge is to avoid excessive thermal treatment that can decrease the nutritional value of the processed waste.This proposed program is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of:1) Using an innovative approach to collecting food waste from food waste generators and using thermal processing to eliminate harmful pathogens while maintaining the nutritional content/value2) Determining the effect the output has on swine digestibility and swine productionIn our proposed process, we will use a patent pending prototype mobile modular food waste processor (MMFWP) that serves as a mobile collection vehicle, food waste processor and dehydrator. Once the food waste is collected in the vessel/container, it is delivered to a central location, unloaded from the vehicle and with the food waste still contained within, hooked up to a heat transfer unit. It is then thermally treated to kill the pathogens without degrading the nutritional value of the processed food waste. It is designed to dehydrate the food waste to less than 12% moisture. This allows not only for a shelf life of the output but will also inhibit the re-growth of pathogens. It overcomes the challenge of transporting wet food waste from cities to rural areas by dehydration of the food waste - reducing both weight and volume.The MMFWP prototype has been successfully operated. The results preliminarily support the premise that converting food waste to animal feed (swine) canmeet desirable nutritional content. Further research is needed to ascertain swine digestibility of the output.Now that the milestone of economically collecting and thermally processing the food waste to eliminate pahtogens, maintain nutritional content and dehydrating the output has been shown, the goal of this Phase 1 research is to:1) Determine and measure the digestibility of the nutrients byswine of the processed food waste through well established testing methodsThis is critical:1) To validate to hog producers that converting food waste to animal feed with the technology applied by the MMFWP has equivalent or superior nutritional benefits compared to soybean meal and corn2) To validate that the nutritional benefit of the animal feed derived from the thermal process of the MMFWP is indeed digestible by swine3) To provide hog prodducers a measurement of targeted nutrients absorbed by hogs. This will allow producers feeding organic waste to determine the nutrient concentration and adjust accordingly4) To establish the bench mark price(s) for the output. Pricing the output is critical to building a viable commercial operationThe objectives we seek in this research:1) Measure the targeted nutritional components a. Amino acids b. Phosphorus c. Gross energy d. Digestible energy2) Compare 4 isolated diets fed to 36 pigs with 9 pig groups each receiving a specified diet.3) The 4 isolated diets are comprised of: a. Controlled diet of corn and soybean meal b. Processed fish waste c. Processed fruit and vegetable waste d. Processed mixed waste4) Measure the nutritional content at three stages compared to the controlled diet of cornand soybean meal a. Nutritional content of the processed food waste prior to feeding the pigs b. Ileal digesta analysis c. Nutritional content found in the excretaThe objedtive again is to compare the 3 types of processed food waste against the controlled diet of a typical feed of corn and soybean meal and measure the digestiblity/absorbtion of the nutrients.
Project Methods
The Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota School of Agriculture has collected information on the nutritional value of food waste. Data suggests so far that the concentration of nutrients (e.g., protein, fat, and starch) are high in comparison with common feed ingredients fed to swine (e.g., corn and soybean meal). However, there is large variability among the sources. The concentration of calories (i.e. metabolized energy) in the dried products from grocery stores and fromdining halls are of high value and are a strong representation of the heterogeneity of food wastes found frommany food waste sources.In our proposal, we will use a patent pending mobile modular food waste processor (MMFWP) as the collection vessel that also serves as the food waste processor and dehydrator. Once the food waste is collected in the vessel/container, it is delivered to a central location, unloaded from the vehcile, and with the food waste contained within, hooked up to a heat transfer unit. Preliminary testing using the prototype MMFWP has been performed. Food waste was collected from two food waste generators. Batch A was from a fruit and vegetable distributor/processor. Batch B was from a fish distributor/processor. The material was heated at temperatures above 180F for 24 hours while being simultaneously churned and mixed for even heating of the material. The pathogens were killed.The output from Batch B (processed fish waste) was sent to a qualified nutritional testing lab, Minnesota Valley Testing. The results showed this product, after the thermal process, showed no major degradation of the nutrients. The processed fish waste compares favorably to soybean meal for Lysine (amino acid), metabolized energy, and exceeded levels of phosphorus in soybean meal.In summary, preliminary information from two sources (dining halls and grocery stores) with a high degree of heterogenity in the composition of the food waste; as well as, a source from a specific type,fish waste,suggest that nutrients found in food waste can serve as animal feed after thermal processing.Our proposal will validate our prelimnary findings through well established testing methods to ascertain swine digestibility of the output. The proposal encompasses research to be performed by the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesotaunder the direction of twohighly regarded specialists in swine production: Dr. Gerald Shurson and Dr. Pedro Urriola.Food waste will be sourced from three food waste generators:1) Fish waste from a fish distributor/processor. Fish waste is targeted as potentially contributing to a diet high in proteins and phosphorus with a high market value2) Fruits and vegetables from adistributor/producer. Targeted for providing important vitamins and minerals.3) Grocery store with a heterogeneity of waste similar to what might be found in restaurants and homes with a mixture of meats, fruits, vegetables, bakery items, dairy, and other prepared foods (both hot and cold) from the deliEach source will be processed separately.The food waste is compressed and pumped into a macerator for dewatering and size reduction to promote faster thermal processing.The macerated dewatered food waste is pumped into the MMFWP for thermal processing with a target moisture level of 12% or less. This target will provide the project with processing conditions for the different food types such as:1) the time required to reach 12%2) the optimal termperature3) the optimal volume of waste within the MMFWPThe processed food waste will be transported to the University of Minnesota Southern Research Center in Waseca, Minnesota. At this research station, growing barrows with initial body weight of approximately 30 kg. will be surgically equipped with a T-cannula at the distal ileum (Stein et al., 1998). These 36 pigs will be housed in metabolism crates and randomly allotted four diets:1) Diet #1 will be a controlled diet consisting of corn and soybean meal - 9 pigs2) Diet #2 will be a processed fish waste diet - 9 pigs3) Diet #3 will be a processed vegetable and fruit waste - 9 pigs4) Diet #4 will be a mix of various food wastes - 9 pigsPigs will be fed for 5 days of adaptation followed by 1 day of feces collection and 2 days of ileal digesta collection. Ingredients, diets, and ileal digesta will be analyzed for the concentration of amino acids. The standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids will be calculated by the ratio between intake and excreted amino acids (Urriola et al.,2009). The content of gross energy in diets, feces, and ingredients will be measured. The concentration of digestible energy (DE) will be calculated at the difference between intake and excreted energy (Anderson et al., 2012). Data on the concentration of the SID amino acids and DE will be utilized to construct a data base that can allow people feeding organic waste (food waste) to determine the nutrient concentration and adjust swine diets accordingly.Under the direction of Dr. Shurson and Dr. Urriola, a University of Minnesota graduate student from the School of Agriculture Animal Science will be managing the research and testing at the Southern Research Center in Waseca, Minnesota.The Project Director, Leslie David Russick, willl be using an intern from the U of M School of Agriculture to assist with the food collection and the operation of the MMFWP.1) Data gleaned from this research will provide definitive nutrient measurements of different sources of food waste and how it compares to common feed ingredients2) The research project will validate the premise that the nutrients found in processed food waste are digestible and thus beneficial as animal feed.3) Further commercialization will rely on the data to price the output. It is anticipated that the different sources of food waste will have different levels of desirable nutrients. Processed fish waste may then be priced differently than mixed food waste from grocery stores, homes, and restaurants because of their variability. This research project willl successfully determine the value by food waste types. "Not all food wastes arecreated equally".Our final report willl provide this valuable information to hog producers throughout the US on how they can supplement current feeding methods. Our report willl encourage the commercialization of food waste collection by providing data on the value of processed food waste and supporting the contention it can beconverted to a nutritionally beneficial and safeanimal feed.