John Majercak of CET, Sarah Eustis of the Red Lion Inn, state Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli and DEP Commissioner David Cash gathered at the Red Lion Inn to highlight the hotel's compliance with the food waste ban.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Red Lion Inn has a massive food and beverage operation in the 125-room hotel.

 

The operation accounts for about a third of their revenue. But with large food operations comes large amounts of waste — something the inn has been hoping to reduce for some time now. 

 

In September, it stopped sending waste to be buried in a landfill and instead sends it to Meadow Farm in Lee for composting and feed.

 

"It feels like it is the right thing to do and it is something we've wanted to do," said Managing Director Sarah Eustis. 

 

The Red Lion Inn is one of 1,700 companies in the state that is required to recycle excess food. Any company that produces one or more ton of food waste in a week is required to repurpose it, donate to food bands, compost it or use in anaerobic digesting facilities. 

 

According to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner David Cash, the ban was coupled with state support to help companies make the transition. The Center for EcoTechnology was awarded funds from the DEP to provide technical assistance to the companies.

 

"We really like solutions that help the community, economy and the environment. This one does all that," CET President John Majercak said at an event Friday to highlight the inn's new program. 

 

The company has helped "hundreds of businesses from Stockbridge to Boston," Majercak said, with a reference to the James Taylor song. "I had to work that in."

 

CET provides support a businesses transition into compliance and typically businesses see significant cost savings in doing so, he said. Recycling not only reduces waste but also saves energy and money for the companies.

 

Beyond reducing costs for businesses, Cash said the ban that went into affect in October has already produced new businesses. For example, a company was formed in Boston that traveled to supermarkets and transports expired food to food banks and homeless shelters.

 

"We like to think of this as a win-win-win-win-win situation," Cash said. "We are avoiding disposal and disposal costs. We are improving our greenhouse gas emissions because this stuff is not degrading in landfills. We are creating clean energy and green jobs. We are repurposing this in a variety of different ways."

 

Cash said there is enough food and organic waste statewide each year to fill up Fenway Park 20 times. Instead of going to a landfill, he said there are ways to turn food waste into energy, be used for agriculture or even just helping hungry people in homeless shelters.

 

"The waste has value," he said.

 

The department spend four to five years crafting the ban in a manner to not hurt businesses and to spur economic development and innovative ideas, Cash said. He said the University of Massachusetts at Lowell will be saving some tens of thousands of dollar through their new program.

 

The new program is mostly a matter of sorting the waste and then hauling it to the contracted farm. Cash and Pignatelli gave the Red Lion Inn a hand by sorting a dish and taking the food waste to be transported.

The Red Lion Inn itself is now diverting 75 tons annually for agricultural use at Meadow Farm. And the transition hasn't affected the inn's operations much at all, Eustis said. The company worked with the kitchen staff to make sure the new program wouldn't interrupt the workflow.

 

"The response has been really great. There is no grumbling. It is just a great thing to do. Our culture here has never been about waste. We hate it. We are always thinking of ways to be more efficient," she said. "Even if this hadn't been required we were looking to do it."

 

Cash and state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli tried their hand at the new process. They started in the kitchen and sorted the types of material from a typical dish and then wheeled the recyclable food to a flatbed that will transport it to the farm. 

 

That's it. But, just incorporating that sorting into the workflow put the Red Lion Inn as one of the first in the state to comply. 

 

"I'm so proud of the Red Lion Inn to take the lead," Pignatelli said. 

 

Cash said so far 1,400 of the companies — which are most hospitals, supermarkets, hotels and motels, large restaurants, colleges and nursing homes — have complied. The DEP will be working to get the rest into compliance. Moving forward, the DEP performs inspections of landfills and any hauler with a lot of food waste can direct them back to the company. A fine system is in place if the companies refuse to comply.

 

"We're mostly about technical support," Cash said.