FROZEN FOOD MANUFACTURER
Queens, New York

The Company: A family-owned frozen foods manufacturer employs approximately 100 people in Queens, NY. They have one primary product line, with several variations. They distribute directly to retail outlets under various brand names.

The Problem: Waste generated by the company consisted of product components that didn’t meet the company’s demanding standards for high quality and raw material packaging waste. The business required three to four pulls per month of a thirty yard compactor, for a staggering $54,000 annually. NY Wa$teMatch was contacted to identify opportunities to reduce the costs associated with their waste disposal practices.

The Solution: NY Wa$teMatch made several recommendations. The first recommendation was to implement a recycling program for the foodstuffs that did not meet the company’s standards. This food waste recycling program cost 50% of their traditional waste disposal costs bringing immediate savings to the company.

Steel drums, a packaging product for another raw material, accumulated in the client’s yard for months at a time. Once the company had accumulated several hundred drums, they would eventually call a recycler and pay to have them recycled. NY Wa$teMatch was able to match them with another company with a periodic need for steel drums. The steel drums are collected by the end-user with no cost at all to the generator. To date, approximately 240 drums have been collected, at a savings of $2.00/drum.

The Results: The chart below shows the total projected diversion quantities and cost savings and revenue over a twelve-month period.

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The Company: This company is a large wholesale and retail fruit and vegetable distributor.

The Problem: Before receiving assistance from NY Wa$teMatch, the company generated approximately 2,370 tons of landfill waste per year. They combined all of their waste for disposal, including cardboard and organic waste (chiefly spoiled produce). The company was paying over $16,000 per month to have their waste collected and landfilled. Their average monthly landfill waste stream composition was as follows:

Material	Cubic Yards	Tons
Waxed & Corrugated Cardboard	500	100.0
Mixed Spoiled Vegetables & Fruits (Organic Waste)	300	96.0
Miscellaneous Materials	15	1.5
TOTAL	815	197.5

The Solution: NY Wa$teMatch's waste reduction and recycling assessment identified two key source reduction and recycling opportunities for the company's cardboard and organic material. The company was combining their organic waste and waxed and corrugated cardboard for disposal. NY Wa$teMatch proposed that the company separate and bale their corrugated cardboard so that it could be recycled. For the company's organic waste, NY Wa$teMatch recommended that they purchase a processing unit that would reduce the volume and weight of the waste.

NY Wa$teMatch held several meetings with the company's principals and they agreed to set up a recycling program for their corrugated cardboard and contract with a recycling vendor for this material. They also purchased the organic waste processing unit and switched to a hauler that composts the processed material. The processing unit is projected to reduce the volume and weight of their organic waste by approximately 70 percent. The recycling program for their cardboard has gone into effect and their organic waste processing unit became operational allowing their new hauler to begin collecting their processed organic material for composting.

The Results: The chart below shows the total projected diversion quantities and cost savings over a twelve-month period.

Material	Strategy	Tons	Type of Value	Value
Corrugated Cardboard	Recycling	195.6	Disposal Costs	$41,284.80
Organic Waste	Source Reduction	480.0	Disposal Costs	$17,891.00
TOTAL		675.6		$59,176.80

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