Links and Resources About Food Recovery in Honolulu

EPA’s Wasted Food Scale ranks these food waste reduction activities from most preferred to least preferred.

• Prevent Wasted Food
• Donate or Upcycle
• Feed Animals
• Anaerobic Digestion, and Fats, Oils & Grease
• Compost

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Prevent Wasted Food

Produce, buy, and serve only what is needed. There are many resources available to prevent wasted food:

• EPA Food Recovery Website
  • Food and Packaging Waste Prevention Tool (xlsm) (892.16 KB, March 2014)
    Tracks the amount and reasons specific foods are wasted.
  • Reducing Wasted Food & Packaging: A Guide for Food Services and Restaurants (pdf) (1.28 MB, March 2014, EPA-909-K-14-002)
    Provides guidance on using the prevention tool tracking results to save money and reduce waste.
  • A Guide to Conducting and Analyzing a Food Waste Assessment (pdf) (1.55 MB, March 2014, EPA-530-F-15-003)
    Shows how to do a one-time snapshot wasted food assessment.
• City of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services Business Recycling Resources
  • Lists "peer consultants" who will offer free tours of their facilities and programs and how to plan similar programs; includes several restaurants and food preparers.

Donate or Upcycle

The resources below include national, regional and local organizations which take food donations in the Honolulu area. Most take non-perishables, and some accept surplus perishable foods. Be prepared to describe your donations in terms of packaging, preparation, frequency and type.

• Aloha Harvest Food Rescue
  Picks up and delivers perishable food the same day to feed the hungry.
  • 3599 Waialae Ave. #23, Honolulu, HI 96816; (808) 537-6945
  • Criteria for food donations:
    - Verbal commitment
    - Five lbs or more for pick up
    - Prepared in a certified kitchen - 24-hour notice

Food Pantries

Many have varying or limited capabilities for storing food donations and therefore limit the types or timing of donations. It’s often best to contact several to determine which can use your donations. Below are links to find local food pantries.

• Ample Harvest
  Find a pantry near you on this non-profit's website.
• Food Pantries.org
  See a list of Hawaii food pantries on this non-profit's website.

The following food pantry may accept perishable donations:

Food Pantry	Contact	Hours
Salvation Army – Family Services Office	296 N. Vineyard Blvd. Honolulu, HI, 96817 (808) 440-1834	Wed. & Fri. 1:30-3:30 pm Call to confirm

• Rock and Wrap It Up!
  Matches vetted charities with eligible donors of perishable food including entertainment venues, hotels, K-12 schools and colleges, sports teams, and hospitals. Offers the free "Whole Earth Calculator" to convert pounds of food to pounds of CO2 equivalent (CO2e).
• Food Rescue Locator
  Locate Food Rescue organizations.
• ReFed Innovator Database
  The Database is a living compilation of commercial and nonprofit entities turning the food waste problem into an opportunity for economic, social, and environmental impacts. This growing database is broken down by food waste solution type, organizational status, and geographic reach. Categories include secondary marketplaces that connect surplus food (food that would otherwise be wasted) to buyers. Upcyclers convert edible food that is currently considered waste (e.g., surplus/cosmetically challenged produce, brewery waste, vegetable trimmings) into value-added consumer food products (e.g., juices, fruit snacks, energy bars). The Database also lists a variety of food recovery organizations that capture edible food that would otherwise go to waste on farms, within the supply chain, or in consumer-facing businesses, and redistributes it to food insecure populations.

Food Banks

Regional food banks work with local food pantries, homeless shelters and other charities for food donation. While many food banks are unable to accept perishable and prepared food, they often work with donors to find perishable food options nearby. Listed below is the main food bank in the Honolulu area.

Donation Center	Location	Contact	Type of Food Accepted
Hawaii Food Bank	Kaua’i Warehouse 4241 Hanahao Pl., St. 101 Lihue, HI 96766	(808) 482-2224	Non-perishables; sealed perishable foods, fresh produce. Cannot accept prepared foods, but will refer to agencies that can.

Feed Animals

Pig/Hog Farms

Large pig farms may accept food scraps. The Federal Swine Health Protection Act requires that food containing, or that comes in contact with meat or animal materials must be boiled before being fed to pigs. Consequently, many local pig farmers are primarily interested in single-stream fruits and vegetables or grain waste. Arrangements are often informal and can be intermittent.

Organization	Service	Contact
University of Hawaii Swine Specialist	Connects interested businesses in Honolulu with pig farmers able to accept their food scraps.	[email protected]
EcoFeed Inc.	Picks up and delivers food scraps to local pig farmers; contact for pricing	PO Box 31089 Honolulu, HI 96820 (808) 841-5586
A & A Specialty Services	Feeds goats and pigs.	(808) 230-1745
Mountain View Farms	Pigs are vegetarian fed; farm will accept produce only.	(808) 383-3972

Spent Brewery Grain

Spent brewery grain can be used as animal feed, primarily for cattle, but also for pigs, goats, fish and almost any livestock. Most breweries give the grain away to local farms. Manufacturers with single food residuals streams can find local farms and ranches to donate their excess/by-product.

Anaerobic Digestion, and Fats, Oils & Grease

Fats, oils and grease, also known as FOG, can be converted to fuels and has various industrial uses. FOG and food scraps can also be anaerobically digested to create energy, and the digestate can be composted to create a soil amendment. Honolulu area options and resources include:

• Waste to Biogas Resources
  Searchable database of local biogas facilities that may accept FOG or food waste. The City of Honolulu wastewater treatment plants do not currently accept FOG or food waste for co-digestion.
• Find an Anaerobic Digester (AD)
  Use EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Map to identify facilities near you.
• Pacific Biodiesel
  Collects FOG on Oʻahu, Maui County and Hawaii Island for biodiesel; (808) 877-3144
• Baker Commodities Inc./Island Commodities
  Kapolei, (808) 682-5844; collects FOG

Compost

Composting turns food scraps into a nutrient-rich soil amendment and can be done on site in smaller amounts, or on a larger scale at a municipal or commercial level.

• City and County of Honolulu Recycling Information at Department of Environmental Services
  808-768-3200
• Find a Composter
  Use EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Map to identify facilities near you that may accept food scraps.
• The Compost Navigator
  Enter your address and any of eight material categories you’d like to sustainably manage, and the nearest composters (and AD facilities) will pop up in the map.
• Hawaiian Earth
  Ecofeed does all the pickups from businesses; accepts pre-consumer fruit, veggies, grain; no food scraps). Multiple Facilities on Oʻahu, Wahiawa, Waimanalo and the Big Island. Scroll to the bottom of their website for locations and hours.

Composting Facility	Location	Hours	Contact
Baker Commodities Inc./Island Commodities FOG collection and recycling Composting of food waste	Island Commodities 91-269 Olai St Kapolei, HI 96707-793	Scheduled collection	(808) 682-5844
Hawaiian Earth Products (Ecofeed does all the pickups; accepts pre-consumer fruit, veggies, grain; no food scraps)	Hawaiian Earth Products (Campbell) 91-400 Malakole Road Kapolei, Hi 96707	Monday-Friday:7:00 am to 3:30 pm Saturday: 7:00 am to 3:30 pm Sunday: Closed	Phone: (808) 682-5895 Fax: (808) 682-0762