Piazza's Waste Audit Report Final

Waste Audit Report:
Piazza’s Fine Foods Market
of Palo Alto
Conducted by:
Josh Hubert
Zero Waste Outreach Intern
Zero Waste Palo Alto

PIAZZA'S WASTE AUDIT REPORT
Date of
Audit Auditor Josh Hubert
Address 3922 Middlefield Rd. Hours 7 am to 10 pm Phone
Service
Location
Qty Size Service Days Qty Size Service Days Qty Size Service Days
1 6 yd MTuThFSa 1 6 yd M-Sa 1 6 yd MWFSa
10% full
(.6 cu yd)
5%
25%
70%
20% full
(1.2 cu yd)
0%
90%
10%
40% full
(2.4 cu yd)
1%
4%
95%
back of store
Materials in Landfill container Materials in Recycle container Materials in Compost container
SERVICE LEVELS
Landfill Service Recycle Service Compost Service
Recycle bin CONTENT FOUND
Landfill bin
Landfill plastic utensils, cheese block wrapper, few composite snack packages, latex gloves
Recycle cans, paper pastry boxes, full beverage bottles, paper cups and bowls, plastic cups
Compost lettuce, fruit salad, paper, trash bag of prepared food from hot food bar
Notes Approximately 6.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .03, R- .15, C- .42
CONTENT FOUND
Compost bin
Landfill
Recycle film plastic bagged (bonus points), clean paper, stack of unused takeout trays
Compost fruit peels, used paper towels
Notes Approximately 4.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- 1.08, C- .12
CONTENT FOUND
650.494.1629
Tuesday 7/7/2015, 1:30pm
Notes Approximately 21.5 business hours after collection. Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .02, R- .1, C- 2.28
serviced 7-7:30 am serviced 9 am serviced 6-6:15 am
Landfill dirty plastic trash bags
Recycle
a few plastic clamshell containers, twist ties, a few cardboard boxes, seemingly clean
produce box paper
Compost mainly produce, lots of leafy veggies, some blueberries, grapefruits, peach, stringbeans,
bell pepper scraps, newspaper and used paper towels, paper label twist ties
Landfill,
5%
Recycle,
25%
Compost
, 70% Recycle,
90%
Compost,
10%
Landfill,
1%
Recycle,
4%
Compost,
95%

Photos from Landfill bin

Photos from Recycle bin

Photos from Compost bin

Date Thursday 7/9/2015 3:30p
Materials in Recycle container Materials in Compost container
20% full
(1.2 cu yd)
10%
20%
70%
15% full
(.9 cu yd)
2%
98%
0%
75% full
(4.5 cu yd)
0%
4%
96%
Approximately 23.5 business hours after collection.
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .18, C- 4.32Notes
Landfill
Recycle
black plastic flat with fruit indents, cardboard boxes, film plastic, plastic bags
Compost leafy greens, melons and rinds, carrots, peaches, plums, radishes, asparagus,
artichokes, avocado, corn, cucumber
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .02, R- .88, C- 0
Notes
CONTENT FOUND
Materials in Landfill container
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .12, R- .24, C- .84
Recycle
lots of unopened yogurt containers and several beverage bottles (contents
should be poured into compost or down drain), plastic pasta container, office
paper
Compost perishable cream cartons, coffee cup, used paper towels, several trash bags
filled with leftover food from hot food bar, full ‘Delifresh smoked meat’ container
Notes
CONTENT FOUNDLandfill bin
Landfill
heat-reflective metal sheet (maybe could be reused), Styrofoam blocks
Compost bin
Landfill
caution tape, painted wood stick, shipment securing strap
Recycle cardboard boxes, unused plastic take-out boxes, lots of film plastic and package
wrapping, bubble wrap, office paper, plastic jug
Compost
Landfill,
10%
Recycle,
20%
Compos
t, 70%
Landfill,
2%
Recycle,
98%
Recycle,
4%
Compos
t, 96%

Date Wednesday 7/15/2015 4:30p
100% full
(6 cu yd)
5%
35%
60%
10% full
(0.6 cu yd)
0%
100%
0%
20% full
(1.2 cu yd)
0%
5%
95%
Materials in Landfill container Materials in Recycle container
Landfill
Recycle plastic bags bagged, plastic produce boxes, black plastic fruit trays, clean
plastic wrap
Notes
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .06, C- 1.14
Compost
waxed carboard boxes, corn, lettuce, parsley, brussel sprouts,
Compost
Materials in Compost container
Notes Approximately 24.5 business hours after collection.
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- .3, R- 2.1, C- 3.6
Landfill bin
Landfill
dirty plastic bags, composite material product bags, styrofoam egg carton
Recycle plastic tubs, cardboard boxes, coffee tin, clean plastic bags, brown paper,
yogurt containers
Compost eggs and cartons, lots of leftover hot food, dirty paper towels, dirty paper
takeout containers
CONTENT FOUND
Recycle
plastic container, salad mix bag, paper cup
CONTENT FOUND
Notes Approximately 7.5 business hours after collection.
Estimated volumes (cu yd): L- 0, R- .6, C- 0
Compost bin
Landfill
Landfill,
5%
Recycle,
35%Compos
t, 60%
Recycle,
100%
Recycle,
5%
Compos
t, 95%

Landfill 6% 0.45 cu yd Landfill 1% 0.02 cu yd Landfill 0.2% 0.02 cu yd
Recycle 32% 2.49 cu yd Recycle 95% 2.56 cu yd Recycle 4% 0.34 cu yd
Compost 62% 4.86 cu yd Compost 4% 0.12 cu yd Compost 96% 7.74 cu yd
Landfill bin Landfill Recovered 0.45
Landfill Misplaced 0.04
Recycle bin Recycle Recovered 2.56
Recycle Misplaced 2.83
Compost bin Compost Recovered 7.74
Compost Misplaced 4.98
Totals of All Three Audits
Total of 7.8 cu yd of material were
audited over 3 audits
Landfill bin
Recycle bin
Compost bin
Total Materials in Landfill Bin Total Materials in Recycle Bin Total Materials in Compost Bin
0.45, 2% 0.04, 0%
2.56,
14%
2.83, 15%
7.74, 42%
4.98, 27%
Total Generation of Waste (cu yd)
Landfill Recovered
Landfill Misplaced
Recycle Recovered
Recycle Misplaced
Compost Recovered
Compost Misplaced
Landfill,
6%
Recycle,
32%
Compos
t, 62%
Landfill
1%
Recycle
95%
Compost
4%
Landfill
0%
Recycle
4%
Compos
t
96%

PIAZZA’S WASTE AUDIT REPORT
Conclusions and Next Steps
Waste Diversion and Reduction
In general, Piazza’s is doing moderately well at waste diversion. On all three of the
auditor’s visits, the majority of material in the compost and recycling bins was properly
sorted. The main area for improvement is the landfill bin, which on all three occasions
was mainly composed of compostable materials, and to a lesser extent recyclables. There
was very little true landfill waste in any of the bins.
From the fact that the majority of the material in the compost bin is produce, it appears
that the produce department is very diligent about composting its food waste. But the
primary compostable material in the landfill bin was leftovers from the prepared food bar,
so it appears that this department in particular is not diverting properly.
Suggested actions:
 Make sure that all departments have convenient access to all three stream
(landfill, recycling, and compost) bins behind the counter. Ideally the black
landfill bin should be much smaller than the recycle and compost ones, to serve as
a visual reminder to employees that a very small amount of their waste stream is
actual landfill waste.
o Preferably, compost bins should be lined with compostable plastic bags,
which Piazza’s carries.
o As a bonus, in order to more fully cultivate a store-wide culture of waste
diversion, the three stream bins could also be made available at the front
of house to customers. Since residents are (as of July 1st
) now able to
compost food scraps and soiled paper products in their residential green
bins, many are becoming better educated about proper waste diversion.
Having these bins available for customers and having knowledgeable
employees able to assist them with what goes where reinforces the
communal emphasis on waste diversion.
 Make sure all employees know what materials go in each stream. We can set
up a training session with GreenWaste to bring everyone up to speed.
 Post informational signage with images showing what materials go in each
bin in the break room and other places where employees can easily see it.
 It is important to separate non-donatable food from its packaging before
disposing of it. Containers of food liquid should be poured down the drain, and
the separated parts should be placed into their proper bins.
o One way to organize this separation is to appoint an interested member of
each department to serve as department green champion. This should
ideally be someone who would normally dispose of the materials in the
first place.

o The most important thing to avoid is putting any type of glass into the
compost bin. This severely reduces the value of the resulting compost and
poses a safety hazard to recipient farmers.
o The majority of plastic containers and films (eg. bags, container seals,
snack packaging) can be recycled in Palo Alto, the exceptions being
Styrofoam and dirty film plastics. Clean film plastics should be collected
together in a plastic bag before recycling. Containers only need to be clean
enough so that when turned upside down nothing drips out.
 When considering new products to carry, take a product’s packaging into
account. The less packaging the better, and it is best if materials are compostable
or recyclable.
 The store should continue to use its system of discounting items nearing their
sell-by dates and placing them on specially labelled shelves. Make sure to give
these shelves adequate signage, and consider advertising them in newsletters or
other media.
 Consider offering tastes of items that are underselling or may not have
“caught on” as free samples to customers. If they are still underselling after a
period of sampling, then it makes sense to reduce/discontinue their stock.
 Additionally, by focusing more on donating unsellable but still nutritive food,
Piazza’s will be able to circumvent these issues and save employee time
separating materials and disposing of items, among other environmental and
financial benefits.
Perishable Food Donation
The primary food category that is currently wasted but could easily be donated is
produce. The next most prevalent ones are leftovers from the prepared food bar, and dairy
products as well as any miscellaneous perishables that reach their sell-by dates. As it
happens, produce and other perishables are the most sorely needed and infrequently
donated category of food reported by food banks.
Suggested actions:
 When culling produce and perishables at their sell-by dates from the shelves,
employees should have access to a reusable labeled bin for filling with
donation items, and after culling should promptly place the collected items in a
labeled fridge with space designated for donation.
o It makes sense to use excess cardboard produce boxes for holding
donations, if they are available. Keep the cardboard boxes in the fridge
and place the collected items in them throughout the day. Having
everything in disposable boxes makes donation pick up simple.

 If culling happens only a few times throughout the day in most departments,
it makes sense for employees in each department to collect and promptly
refrigerate donatables on their own as the need arises.
o If culling happens at frequent regular intervals for many departments, it
may be more efficient to have workers at the different departments just
separate their donatables behind the counter, and then have a designated
‘donation runner’ go around at regular intervals to collect donatables from
all departments at once and refrigerate them.
o The maximum time that cold perishables can be left out and still
considered safe for donation is 2 hours, so this is the longest possible time
interval between donation runners’ rounds if this method is used.
 Meat that reaches its sell-by date can be donated if it is frozen on that date.
Any frozen food donations must remain frozen until pick up. Leftovers from the
prepared food bar require more specific handling procedures, and Second Harvest
and its partners will assist in coordinating these donations.
 It is important to assess the amount of donations that are generally collected
daily and on the different days of the week in order to coordinate with food bank
recipients and set a regular donation schedule with them.
o Second Harvest Food Bank will connect the store with local partner
agencies and assist with the logistics of transporting donations.
 The store will likely want to incorporate a ‘donation’ designation into the
product spoils inventory system to keep track of quantity and type of items
donated, for accounting purposes and as a receipt for tax deductions.
By donating, composting, and recycling more, Piazza’s will likely be able to reduce its
landfill bin size, and potentially even its weekly service frequency, for a significant
decrease in the cost of waste collection service overall. Compost service is 10 percent
cheaper than landfill service in Palo Alto, and that discount will likely increase by early
next year (the matter is currently under discussion by Zero Waste). Additionally,
donations earn the store tax deductions.
Keep up the good work!

Contacts
Zero Waste Palo Alto
Phone: (650) 496-5910
zerowaste@cityofpaloalto.org
P.O. Box 10250
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Second Harvest Food Bank
Phone: (408) 266-8866
https://www.shfb.org/contact
750 Curtner Avenue
San Jose CA 95125
GreenWaste of Palo Alto (waste hauler)
Phone: (650) 493-4894
www.greenwaste.com/paloalto
2000 Geng Road
Palo Alto CA 94303

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