Managing Food Waste: Disposers
Food waste is already comprised mostly of water (70%). Grinding it up in a disposer and sending it down the drain makes sense—and can be a practical and environmentally responsible way of contributing to a holistic waste management strategy.
In addition to keeping food scraps out of landfills, a capable wastewater treatment facility can capture methane, the biogas created while treating wastewater, and use it to generate renewable energy to power the plant, itself. Many modern facilities already do this, and the number is growing. And biosolids that result from the treatment process can be converted and sold as fertilizer and soil conditioner, recycling food nutrients back to the soil.
Moreover, a disposer can also be used in combination with composting by handling waste that can't be composted or when conditions make composting too difficult.