CHESTNUT RIDGE, NY – MARCH 30, 2015 –BioHitech America, a green technology company that provides an innovative data-driven solution for food waste removal, urges the city of New York to aggressively start seeking alternative solutions to divert commercial food waste from landfills. BioHitech America suggests that the city needs to join the likes of governments across North America implementing commercial food waste bans including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
Local law 146 of 2013 requires that large food establishments based in New York City recycle their food waste by July 1, 2015 provided that an affordable facility exists within a 100-mile radius of the city that will process the waste at a cost that is competitive with landfills or incinerators. The closest facility of its kind shut down its food waste operation in late 2014 and another facility has yet to be identified.
“New York City is unfortunately falling behind and is not demonstrating any clear plans to deal with the 2 million tons of waste it sends to landfills each year, said Frank E. Celli, Chief Executive Officer, BioHitech America. “We recognize the challenges and costs that will arise in building new recycling facilities to handle capacity, but we encourage the city to start researching alternative solutions including a combination of compositing, anaerobic-digestion facilities and on-site alternatives.”
The New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund recently released a proposal to the city providing organic waste recommendations and BioHitech America strongly supports their outlined suggestions for diverting 75% of solid waste from landfills and would like to also suggest to the city that they consider utilizing on-site diversion solutions like the BioHitech America Eco-Safe Digester.
BioHitech’s solution to food waste removal is the most viable option for generators of mass amounts of waste like hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and hotels. The company’s Eco-Safe Digester is an on-site aerobic digester that eliminates food waste by converting it into nutrient-neutral water or “grey-water” and transporting it through standard sewer lines, thus eliminating the need for waste haulers and additional storage space, and complies with new waste ban standards. The on-site solution can also be used to reduce and prepare a more cost-effective feedstock for Anaerobic Digestion.
In addition to diverting food waste, BioHitech America’s solution also offers access to the waste data to help companies start preventing food waste all together. The Eco-Safe Digester is equipped with an on board scale that weighs food waste each time it is added, determining where, when, and what food waste is being disposed. The BioHitech Cloud, a technology platform hosted by Amazon, measures key metrics to offer businesses the data needed to optimize the food waste disposal process and identify the best way to prevent it altogether. These metrics are providing the industry with an unprecedented level of transparency.
“Our smart solution will help businesses prevent waste before it is starts. We see companies significantly reduce the amount of food waste they generate and the costs associated with wasted inventory and waste removal services since installing our technology,” added Mr. Celli. BioHitech America currently provides its innovative solution to numerous high volume generators in various industries in nearly 300 locations across the globe. Their solutions have helped reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills while also helping business owners and operators adjust seamlessly to similar bans that have been put into effect. BioHitech America encourages the city of New York to utilize green technology to help set the standard for alternative solutions to food waste removal in cities across the nation. In addition, the city can apply the same technology to hold businesses accountable for demonstrating their compliance with the ban with real and accurate data. This would be an unprecedented initiative, positioning New York City as the pioneer in commercial food waste ban reporting.
About BioHitech America
BioHitech America’s unique solution to food waste combines green technology with the power of Big Data to offer transparency, savings and a sustainable future. The company’s Eco-Safe Digester, an on-site aerobic digester, eliminates up to 2,400 pounds of food waste in a 24-hour period by converting it into nutrient-neutral water and transporting the water safely through standard sewer lines. The BioHitech Cloud, a technology platform hosted by Amazon, measures key metrics to optimize the food waste disposal process. These metrics are providing the industry with an unprecedented level of transparency that not only helps to reduce the amount of waste generated, but also improve company-wide efficiency and profitability. BioHitech America, a featured company in the exclusive Credit Suisse Private Innovation Circle event, provides the leading sustainable method that allows businesses to move towards the prevention of waste altogether. For more information, please visit http://www.biohitech.com.
