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Disposals and Resource Use – FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How is using a disposal/food waste disposer environmentally responsible?
Recognizing that food waste is 70 percent water, it makes sense to grind it up in a disposer and send it down the drain to be processed in municipal wastewater treatment plants, which are designed to treat this sort of organic material. Consider that about 19 million tons of food waste in the U.S. ends up in landfills. The trucks hauling waste to landfills also emit exhaust. Food waste decomposes quickly in a landfill, producing methane, a greenhouse gas at least 21 times more potent than CO2. Many landfills attempt to capture methane, but it‘s challenging. In addition, decomposing food waste produces a liquid that combines with other elements in the landfill to create an acidic leachate that can harm ground water. For all these reasons, diverting food waste from landfills is environmentally beneficial.
Is there an ideal way of disposing of food waste?
There is no waste management “silver bullet” but food waste disposers play a beneficial role in managing waste in an environmentally responsible manner. Disposing of food waste via composting can be a great solution, but composting isn‘t always practical for everyone everywhere – in crowded urban settings, for apartment dwellers, or in cold weather. Using a food waste disposer complements composting. Therefore, it only makes sense to manage it using a variety of approaches.
What is the environmental footprint of disposals?
Disposals have a modest environmental footprint. They are durable, long-lasting and require little, if any, maintenance. They are composed primarily of metal and can be recycled at the end of their useful life. And they use less than one percent of a household‘s total water consumption and use on average less than 50 cents a year in electricity to operate.
Is it true that disposals put a strain on municipal pipes and sewage systems?
More than two dozen independent studies from around the world confirm that using disposers does not cause harm to municipal sewer systems. As a result, disposers are commonplace in U.S. homes, became fully legal in all New York City residences in 1997, and are rapidly gaining acceptance in more than 80 countries around the world. In the U. S., the National Green Building Standards by the National Association of Home Builders assign one point to the installation of disposers.
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