September 24 & 25, 2012
Indianapolis, IN
With Ei Partners Heritage Interactive Services and Simon Property Group corporate headquarters located in Indianapolis, IN, many Ei activities revolve around the city. Zero-waste icon Scott Lutocka, Facilities Manager of Piazza Produce, and long-time Ei pal Chris Pierce of Organics Management Solutions also call Indy home. In September 2012, Ei Partners, Supporters, and pals converged on Indy for two days touring local organics-recycling systems in-place.
The two action-packed days began with an eye-opening tour of zero waste in action at Piazza Produce. The ZWA Blog post, Zero Waste is a Team Sport, gives an overview of the tour; the Ei FB album, 09-24-12 Piazza Produce Zero Waste Tour, gives the pictorial recap. The FB album is a valuable asset as Scott took the time to give in-depth comments on the pictures. Note food-waste collection for compost was the final material-destination shift that put Piazza Produce over the 90% diversion zero-waste threshold.
Immediately following the Piazza tour, the group visited one of GreenCycle of Indiana’s mulching operations. Scott was thrilled to join the tour. GreenCycle said YES to meeting the food-waste composting regulations, giving Piazza along with Indy foodservice operators, a destination other than landfill for their food waste. The Ei FB album, 09-24-12 GreenCycle Mulching Site Tour, gives the pictorial recap of the tour.
On September 25, the Ei Tour group headed to Lafayette for a Subaru plant tour focused on food-waste elimination | reduction. After Subaru, the group headed further north to BioTown Ag in Reynolds, IN for a tour of the on-farm anaerobic-digestion (A.D) system. Inspired by the no-waste farm, the ZWA Blog post, Perpetual Life Cycle System – Simplicity is Key, gives an overview of the farm A.D. system. Chris along with his partner are the masterminds behind the Blue Streams Portable Anaerobic Digesters – impressive with the commercial-use potential. The Ei FB album, 09-25-12 OSM On-Farm A.D. Tour.
