GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 1 of 19
Kai Olson-Sawyer: I'm interested to hear about what led you to start your company; Food
Waste Disposal, which is a composting business, correct?
Wayne Koeckeritz (WK): Right. Really what it is, it's a hauling business. And the reason is, here,
in Charleston County there were no facilities to do any commercial composting. And the county
themselves, probably about 18 months to 24 months ago began a pilot program with the
Department of Health and Environmental control to do commercial food composting, because
there continue to be no regulations in the state of South Carolina that governs anything like this.
And so in order for the county to do it they had to work very closely with the state.
And they now, the county is now the only site in the state of South Carolina that is permitted to
do commercial food composting. And what that did though was created a market, created a
market for somebody to transport all of the compostable food and organic waste. And that is
really where I saw an opportunity to start a business to do that. And the traditional MSW haulers
have sort of sat on the sidelines a little bit and watched and recognizing that it's still quite a niche
market, very early in its stage of growth and development. I haven't really decided to pursue it.
So that, again, is kind of the impetus for really getting out there now and trying to gather market
share and spread the word.
So there's the business side of it. Yes, it's definitely a goal to be able to make a living by doing
this. But it's more than that. And for me it's also a passion to be a part of something that I think
and believe is relevant and meaningful to the community in which I live. Like I said, it's long
overdue, things have been happening for the twenty years.
It's very exciting to finally see something like this happen in my community in South Carolina
and in Charleston, which is by many accounts is probably the more progressive of any city in the
state. So it's really a great passion of mine to try to do this as well as again, at the end of the day,
I still need to pay my bills. So it's little bit of both.
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 2 of 19
And what led me to this was - I had been in hospitality for fifteen years, prior to starting this
company. And I had always been on the facilities side of hotels. I was in the maintenance
department. And typically in the facility operations I oversaw recycling and municipal solid
waste. So recognizing how wasteful hotels are in terms of energy, in terms of food, and water.
All of those things. There was obviously a desire to try to change that, not to the detriment of the
guest experience, but many more about what can we do on the back side. If we are going to
consume a lot of these things, what can we do on the backside to at least soften the impact of that
consumption? And so that's really where I ended up. Starting out on my own and starting this
company.
Kai: And how long have you been in business?
WK: I left my job with my previous employer December 31st last year. And then struck out sort
of on my own here, January 1st. But I really began the hauling operations of the company on
March 1st, so we've been at it for about eighteen weeks right now. And the growth has been
great. This was never a get-rich-quick scheme. That's not what it was about. There's a lot of
anxiety - there are a lot of different stresses. And there's a tremendous among of fear, but fear
can also have an amazing motivating effect on somebody. That's what I have chosen to do and
I'm motivated by that fear versus being paralyzed by it. So it's very exciting.
It's very exciting, and like I said, I have been - the spirit’s been uplifted many times just when I
was making thoughts about, "Wow, is this really what I wanted to do?" And is this the right
decision? The phone rings and says, "Hey, we want to start a program here, at our company." So
it's been very good and the momentum is there now, and the attraction within the community and
things are starting to go and move in the right direction. So it's been very rewarding.
Kai: That's great. And so at this point are you basically using consumer, or obtaining
consumer food and organic waste from other businesses, or is it residential?
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 3 of 19
WK: Yes. Right now the focus is all on commercial businesses and institutional businesses. I
have clients that ranged from hotels and to restaurants and I have a product wholesaler that is a
customer, I also have a large manufacturing facility. And there is a very good chance within the
next day or two that I will have a four-year college under my belt as well. So it's a really broad
range of folks. I had another conversation today with a culinary school, as well. So it's really all
on the commercial or institutional generator side. I think there is potential for residential, but
there's going to have to be a lot of public policy that goes in to that, I think, before this
community is ready for it.
Kai: I see.
WK: The way that Charleston County and this particular region bills people for trash removal is you pay one fee a year and you get all your stuff taken care of versus pay as you throw or paying
to haul. The majority of residential waste hauling around here is contracted through the
government. So it's a little bit more challenging, eventually. But I think that with continued
awareness and education that more and more people will get on board with it. I was just reading
yesterday that Portland, Oregon, has decided to go to trash pick-up every other week. And now
they are doing compost and recycling every week. Those are the kinds of changes that kind of
have to happen to get to that point.
Kai: And so that's exactly right. I think there has to be a change in almost the way people
perceive trash or what trash really means. And so along those lines - so we have this food
waste epidemic, really. So what do you think about combining food waste reduction at its
source, but then looking at waste or really, however you might look at it, as something as a
resource to be reused or recycled rather than as refuse. So how does that play into your
thinking and into your business?
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 4 of 19
WK: Well, absolutely, there's no doubt that when you look at the numbers and the numbers from
the EPA show that 34 million tons of food waste was generated in 2010 and of that 34 million
tons, 33 million tons of it was buried in the landfills. And that means that 2.9 percent was
recovered either through composting programs or anaerobic digestion or whatnot. But it makes
for - that 33 million tons of waste that is being buried in the landfill is the single largest
contributor to the landfill.
The numbers are pretty staggering. And so we started looking at it - okay, there is certainly this
wasteful food waste. I mean, I get that. But there is also the byproducts of food waste that just
are good compost, right? I mean, you're talking about fresh scraps and you've got onion skins
and the tops of tomatoes and watermelon rinds and you've got all that. But you also have chicken
bones and steak bones and fish bones and you have the byproducts of our consumer life. And
that's, whether it's paper milk cartons or paper towels that you've used to wipe your hands and
paper cups and paper plates and the ends of bread that's gone bad.
And all those things are a resource. They all can be composted. So obviously businesses, it's in
their best interest to waste as little food as possible because it's their bottom line. But there is
always that post-consumer waste that you can watch your costs as much as you want in the
kitchen, but you might bring out a steak and potatoes and veggies to the customer and the
consumer and they eat a third of it and don't want to take anything home - that's not on a
restaurant, we're wasting it. That's on the consumer.
So yeah, you control portion size. And a lot of there are ways you can go to it. But recognizing
that there will always be some amount of food and organic residual waste. What do we do with
it? And I said that I look at it as a resource. It's got a great amount of nitrogen, there's
phosphorous residuals in there, you get calcium. So a lot of things that you would buy at the
hardware store in your fertilizer are contained in food residuals.
And so it's a way to add soil, it's got great nutrients in it. It requires the use of less water and
fertilizers and it helps with building soil retention and all that. So there is just a lot of good
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 5 of 19
benefits to it. So that's one angle. Obviously, the best thing to do is to reduce the amount of food
waste. Short of that, what do you do with the stuff that's left over?
Now, some of it, we can talk about feeding it to the animals and whatnot. The difficulty that I see
when you get into the field of collection is that everybody is trying to run a very efficient
operation in their kitchens. And the more you have to separate all of your different waste streams
the less efficient you become and the more problematic it is in the contamination issues and
whatnot.
So if you can simplify or streamline the separation, you get a greater level of participation and
that's where a commercial composting program is absolutely wonderful because it can take all
forms of paper, wax paper, parchment paper and paper bags, napkins, plates, the whole thing.
But then all of that food, it's not just fruit and veggies, it's not just coffee grounds, it's meat and
shells and bones and bread and pasta and salad oil and all those kinds of things. So that now,
when you present that to a business and say, look, 60 to 70 percent of waste in a restaurant is
compostable waste. You don't need a big, giant garbage can anymore. Because the majority of
stuff going into the garbage cans is compostable. So what I offer a customer, or a potential
customer, is saying, "Look. Right now you pay somebody to haul your food waste away and
bury it in a landfill. Bury it in the earth. I'm offering you an opportunity to pay somebody to haul
your food waste away and turn it into earth. So where do you want to fall on that line? So and
we're going to make it as easy as possible, because of - here's all the things that can be collected.
Here's how easy it is. And once they see that, they see how much compostable waste they
generate, it's kind of an eye opener for them.
Kai: I mean, I can only imagine, because you really do see, and you can literally weigh how
much of a change you're making in terms of what's being composted and the organic
byproducts and what just needs to go to the normal municipal solid waste, that route.
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 6 of 19
WK: Right. One of the things I refer all my customers weigh all of their waste.
Kai: You do? You do it in front of them? Do you actually weigh it in front of them?
WK: I don't usually because they are not there. I'm an early morning guy so I'm picking up
waste, you know, between 3:00 in the morning and whatnot and they are not there. But what I do
is I do weigh all of their waste and then I give them, on every invoice, they see what their monthto-date and year-to-date numbers are.
And the thing that I do, specifically, one of the little things that I, as a company, is for every
2,000 pounds of waste that they generate they earn 40 pounds of finished compost. And so if
they - I have a few nonprofit organizations that want that compost and so these businesses can
donate their compost to those organizations or they can redeem it themselves. You know there's
a lot of places, a lot of chefs that have little chef gardens or herb gardens, so they can use it
outside, they can give it to their employees, or they can give it to their own organizations that
they work with.
But it's a way for them to see the value of what they are doing. It's a little bit of a kickback
program for them to see: Hey, of every 2,000 pounds, we get 40 back and so there is value in it.
That's something I'm doing just as a way to - I think it's important for them to see the value of
what they are doing.
Kai: That's great. I think that's a really good incentive. It might not be a huge incentive,
but it does, like you said, it's a testament to what they are doing and it just shows the value
that they are bringing through their - what some people consider waste.
WK: Right, absolutely. And I want them to be able to promote that themselves. I mean, it's all
about, for them to be able to differentiate their product. I think more and more consumers, given
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 7 of 19
the choice between frequenting a business that is employing sustainable methods versus one that
is not, all other things being equal they are going to go to the one that's doing sustainable
methods. So this is one more way.
And I don't know how it is in New York and elsewhere, but for businesses to recycle in
Charleston and in Charleston County, the majority of businesses have to pay a private company
to haul their recycling away. So all the glass, plastic, aluminum, cardboard, all of that, the
majority of businesses have to pay to have that removed.
Now, the majority of businesses you pay for that to be removed. So they have made a decision, a
conscious decision to pay somebody to recycle all of that – comingled.
And so my argue to them is, “You already pay somebody to do that, why wouldn't you pay
somebody to do the composting, which I can make a very valid argument by saying that burying
food and organics in the landfill is far more damaging to the environment than burying glass,
plastic and aluminum in a landfill.”
Kai: Yeah, I mean, it's true. It's true.
WK: It's true. I mean, you put a piece of glass in the landfill what happens? Nothing. It just stays
there. You put plastic in there. It just stays there. Nothing bad happens, in a sense, but you know,
if you put food and organics in a landfill it rots and when it rots it produces methane.
Landfills are the number three leading contributor of methane. Fifteen percent of all methane
emissions are generated by landfills. So I can make that argument that if you had a finite number
of recycling dollars, and sustainability dollars, you want it to have the biggest impact, I can make
the case that doing food and composting which is again, 60 or 70 percent of your waste stream is
a better value, is a better economic environmental benefit than actually recycling glass and
plastics. So I try to get, sometimes I lay that one on there so they almost have to talk themselves
out of composting. Because if they've talked themselves into recycling, the same line of logic
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 8 of 19
would then say, well we should compost. See you almost have to get them to say, "Look, I don't
know." And then they feel sort of torn by that, as well."
So it's kind of an interesting thing. But it all starts with education. It all starts with education.
There's very, very few businesses that I walk into that understand it and get it and know all the
facts. Some people do, some people have come from other areas in the country where they've
been composting, they get it and they are like: "You don't need to sell me, I want to do it, let's
start Monday" kind of thing. But the majority of folks have to go through that process of
acquiring knowledge and learning all the information about the process and the program and why
it's good.
Kai: Well it sounds like you're pretty convincing and since people are joining up and it
sounds like you have some new business on the horizon it's obviously working and I think
when you lay it out like you are saying, it's hard not to accept that and - your money is
going somewhere. It might as well go to better uses, more benefit.
WK: Right. Yeah. I mean, I don't necessarily go in and tell people I'm going to save you 30
percent, that's really not - that's not what this is. It's more about value. I mean, one of the worst
things I hated as a facility manager was writing a check to my MSW hauler, because it's like
paying a parking ticket or a speeding ticket. What value do you get out of that? When you write
the check for a speeding ticket and you are like man, this sucker is $215. I'm never going to see
it again. And it's money I can't spend again. And it's just this awful sort of empty feeling. If I
write a check to a waste hauler, the only thing I'm getting is my waste buried in a landfill.
Now I'm saying: Look, I'm going to offer you value. Now you can write a check and know that
you're doing something that has great important value in the community. Not only to extending
and prolonging the life of the landfill, but reducing methane emissions, you are helping create a
product that, what I talked about and you've probably heard some variant of this in New York
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 9 of 19
and your travels elsewhere, the whole farm-to-table movement. Farm to table. And I simply say,
“I'm table-to-farm.”
Kai: That's great.
WK: I'm the table to farm piece. We focus all about the local farmer and sustainability and
getting those local products to the local market, to that table, but then what do we do with it.
Well I'm talking about let's get it back to the farm. And what's really rewarding to see is when
there are local farmers that have been going up to the county facility and loading up on four or
five, six tons of compost to bring back to their fields, to use that compost and the growing of
their produce which then gets turned around and put back into the local restaurant. If you want to
talk about closing the loop, there it is.
And that's a pretty amazing thing to see. And it just needs to continue, we just need to grow it on
that scale. So there is a lot to it. At the end of the day it's a really simple business that I run. I
pick stuff up and I drop it off. But when you start to look at it, getting people to just switch their
behavior, to change and modify their behavior, change their actions, that's the most difficult
thing. That's always the most difficult thing, is to turn all of that momentum that's been going for
so many years, to just throw it away and bury it, throw it away and bury it. To try and to look
and go back, it's funny I'll ask people that are in their 20s and 30s and say, okay, 50, 60 years
ago, if you wanted a steak, where did you go? You went to the butcher.
And how did the butcher give you the steak? What did he wrap it in?
Kai: Paper.
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 10 of 19
WK: Paper. Okay, so then you needed some bread to go with your steak. Where did you go? You
went to the bakery and you got the bread either just with nothing or paper free. And what about
when you needed milk? Well, your milk came in a glass bottle or a glass jug.
We were in a society that wasn't inundated with plastics, single use disposables, you know? It
was a reusable society for products that were naturally derived. We've gotten away from that, so
now everything is in polypropylene plastics and polystyrene and all these LDP bags and all that.
And so we've just shifted because of convenience. And it's the kind that just illuminates
everybody. You know what, we were able to live effectively in this world without all those
disposables.
Kai: That's right.
WK: And are we able to go back to that. And you mentioned something earlier on about the use
of water. And when you look simply at the water content of food and how much water is in depending on obviously the type of produce or whatnot, but when you're seeing percentages that
are well over 50 percent, I mean, the human body is what, 60 percent?
And then you're looking at some fruits and veggies that are as high as 70 to 80 percent water
content or whatnot. And so if you are burying all that in the landfill, the landfills are designed to
entomb things, they are not designed to break things down and whatnot. And so there are
tremendous amounts of resources that were used to generate that food that's never going to be
captured again.
And so at least in the composting process, we're going to capture that. That water and moisture is
going to be used in the process of composting and had all that bacteria growth and the heat
process and all of that good stuff. And so again, if we lived in a perfect world, yeah, we wouldn't
have waste, but let's go all the way back to the original sin. I really doubt that the entire apple
was eaten. Right? I'm guessing that the core was probably thrown on the ground. Thus began
composting. I mean, composting is as old as we are. As old as food is. But we've gotten away
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 11 of 19
from it and now it's just trying to shift that focus and going back to it. And not denying that those
are resources, and resources that were used to make that food can be used over and over and over
and over again.
Kai: So given that integrated approach of what we call the food, water, energy nexus, how
do you think that impacts your work with regards to hauling, composting, and your
business, Food Waste Disposal?
WK: Well, obviously, and again, I think there's always a downside or there is always something
that can be seen as a con in any thing. And of course, the one big thing is that I'm a big energy
consumer when I do this, when I collect this. I mean, to run a garbage truck that's doing six,
seven, eight miles a gallon and running on diesel and whatnot. So I'm part of that particular
problem. I recognize that and again, I don't ever claim to be perfect and 100 percent sustainable,
being, I think it's all about progress and not perfection.
And if that same garbage truck is out there running around and picking up things and buying
them in a landfill, you know, I'm at least one step better than that. And so I recognize that from
that energy standpoint. And again, the energy being used to produce all of this food and whatnot,
the energy has already been consumed. But so how do we at least get the maximum benefit out
of those energy resources? And that’s really how I tie into it. It's not so much - I'm not going to
go out there and beat everybody up because how much fuel we spend on a combine and all these
kinds of things. That's bigger than me right now. It's way bigger than me. But what I can say is,
"Look, within this corn or tomato or whatever, or whatever it is, there's a number of BTUs that
were used to produce it. Let’s, you know, at least capture some of those resources and that
energy and take that and put it back in rather than being incredibly wasteful with it.
So I guess that's kind of how I approach it is it's not a perfect world, but we can make progress in
it. And we can talk about that water connection and just knowing how much water is consumed,
I think I saw something yesterday - I heard something on NPR, and then I saw a little Facebook
thing going on somebody's page, about a hamburger patty, a quarter pound hamburger patty ends
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 12 of 19
up using 52 gallons of [direct] water to make that one hamburger patty. It's an amazing amount
of water.
I think two thirds of all water consumption is for industrial agriculture. It's staggering, those
numbers are staggering. So again, if we're expending those resources, and what can we do on the
back end to at least capture those and try to reuse them. So that's really, I think, my focus is - I
know there is a lot of advocacy and a lot of groups that are working on the front end of this issue,
and trying to figure out ways to use less water and less fuel and all of that. Like I said, that's not
where I'm at right now. I'm on the backside of that. What can we do to at least sort of respect all
of the energy and resources that went into producing the food? So that's my tie there.
Kai: That's great. I mean, it makes perfect sense. And so do you think that many of your
clients are kind of getting that with regards to the different inputs that go into their
primarily food waste, but you know, like the water input, the energy input, that sort of
thing that make up the nexus, do they see that connection? There is the one that you
essentially just explained.
WK: I think - probably not nearly as much. Not nearly as much. I think some of them do, and
again, there's some of my customers that are incredibly aware of what's going on with the
resources and all those - and there's other customers that go - look, if I can switch from an eightyard compactor and lower my county user fees by 75 percent, I'm going with this program. Some
of it just comes down to pure economics. And by doing something like this, for them they get the
added benefit, of being sustainable, but their primary benefit is of, in some instances, being able
to save a significant amount.
Now, I have the opposite for some customers, as well that receive no economic benefit, in fact, it
costs them more to do this, but they are doing it because they believe it can be the right thing. So
those are the ones that are going to more likely understand the relationship between the energy
and the food and the water.
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 13 of 19
But it's interesting, you know, having never really thought about that nexus of those three until
you asked the question and forced me to think about it. It almost makes me want to go and use
that now when I'm talking to folks and say, "Hey, just know there's all these resources going into
this, lets at least try to capture them on the backside, as well.
It's all about, when I walk into your potential customer's office, I've got probably 60 seconds to
figure out what direction they are, what are they looking for and then try to play off of it. Some
of them want the economic benefit, some of them want that altruistic benefit, some of them want
the marketing benefit, and so I just need to figure out quickly which one it is and then I've got
kind of that approach for each one.
I met with a guy this morning he's like, "Look, I really don't care about being green. I care about
lowering my county user fee. I said, "What about your staff?" He said, "Oh, my staff, they are all
college kids, all they want to do is be green." I'm like, see they are the ones that need the buy-in.
They are the ones that are actually going to be executing this. And so, but I have to approach his
staff entirely different than I would approach it - it's really unique.
But I think - I don't know that there's been a lot of emphasis put on the connection between the
three topics. And I think it's a really interesting way to start looking at it because of - there's
multiple studies out there that look at food and water as being in the top three of issues that are
going to be facing us over the next century.
Kai: Exactly.
And most people aren't aware of that. Right? Most people are hung up on the health care ruling
today or they are - we've got a very myopic view of what dominates, some of it's our own fault
because we don't want to look and learn and all that and others, it's just we got so much - people
have lives going on and they are not worried about those things.
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 14 of 19
So you know, my goal is always to try to educate and let people in and know what's going on
without being preachy, without hitting them over the head with it, I never do a hard sell with
anybody. I never try to shame anybody into feeling bad or whatnot for not doing it. At the end of
the day they have to want to do it and we're a long way away from something like this being
mandated in this community. We're a long way away from that. So if I want to build any sort of
customer base it has to be through honesty and legitimacy and credibility and not through some
sort of scare tactic or green washing or anything like that. So that's probably more the angle that
I've taken.
But after having verbalized it here and talking, I think it's an interesting way to tie all those
topics together.
Kai: Well yeah, I'm glad to engage you on that because really we see you as someone on the
forefront of this. You know, you were talking about farm to table and then table back to
farm, so like you said, you're closing that loop and there's all these resources involved. And
you're just doing a vital service that some people may or may not think about, but it really
is being friendly or sustainable with these resources on the back end.
WK: Right.
Kai: So that's great. So one final question. What would it take for you to scale up your
hauling and composting operation? What do you see in front of you that you would have to
overcome or do to make your business even bigger or expanded?
WK: Part of it is, I thought a lot about this. there's a couple of facets, I think, to that question.
One would be regulatory. It's pretty cheap to throw stuff away right now and on the whole, if it
was more expensive for people to just throw things away, if there was a pay as you throw put
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Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 15 of 19
into place or if the tipping fees and whatnot were more - it might force behavior change. If the
downtown restaurant district and the city stepped in and helped potentially subsidized recycling
and composting then businesses would be more willing to make that switch. So I think part of it
is regulatory.
From a business standpoint, obviously for me and the growth, it's going to be capitalization. It's
getting the money to expand. The operation I started, I kind of cashed out much of my savings,
much of my funds and whatnot and friends and family came to the rescue and helped with the
seed money to go out and buy a huge garbage truck. I mean, that's really what happened and it is
definitely a homespun, homegrown operation. But it was what's the best bang for the buck can
get to get into it? And that's kind of what it came down to from an operation and logistic
standpoint. What kind of equipment is going to get me the best return?
The demand has got to be there too. Right? And so if all of a sudden the public school district
says, "Look, we want to put thirty schools and have them start composting," I don't have that
capacity right now, I don't have the facility. It costs more from a personnel standpoint than it
does equipment. But it's that kind of demand that allows me to go to a lender and say, "Look, I
can lock a deal here for two years with thirty schools. There is going to be the guaranteed
revenue coming from that. Will you loan me what I need to go out and expand. So that's going to
be one of the barriers. When you look at any large waste hauling company, you know they are
profitable because they are able to build in density on their route, that's how they make money.
Now, I'm not as fortunate to be able to do that. And so I kind of have to take the business where
it comes, which means that I don't have a really efficient route, therefore I have to charge more.
Because in order to cover my transportation costs and my insurance and all of those different
things, I have to charge more because my route is so much further spread out. So I'm at a
disadvantage there in that it can cost more for a business to use, it's also on the tipping fee. I have
to pay the county $25.00 a ton to give them this feed stock. And then they turn around and sell it
to the community for $10 a ton.
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Kai: So they are making money on both ends.
WK: They are making money on both ends. Yes. And so what I jokingly constantly go back to
them and I'm like, "Look. You guys are selling it for $10 a ton and you are charging me $25 to
bring it to you. I was like, "We need to flip-flop that." I don't mind paying something. I get it that
we gotta cover the cost of - but the consumer, which is a much bigger base of people than the
customers that I have, there's more of them, and they are willing to pay. They'll pay $25 a ton for
it because it's good stuff. And so but if you can charge me $10 a ton to bring it in, then I can
lower my costs. And if I lower my costs then it's a good opportunity that I can acquire more
customers. Which means, more feedstock which means more compost, which means they can
have more sales on the other end.
But, you know, that's me as a businessman talking. And versus a government.
And look, I love the county. I mean, we had a very close relationship. I have to. They are the
ones that are actually running the facility. If they pull the plug on this, my business goes under. If
they don't process it, I have no place to take it. So we have to work together. But the same token
is, if they don't have feed stock they don't have a facility. So it's in the mutual best interest on
both parties to see each other succeed. So and it's new. It's in its infancy we keep refining it. I
refine my pricing. I think they are working on theirs; independently we're working in different
things, but so yeah. And I think that's kind of where it's at. You know, the cost of compostable
products is still relatively high compared to that of traditional petroleum based plastics. So to get
people to switch to using compostable plastics is a little bit more of a challenge. And the bags
that I - I buy bags for all my collection containers, and they are all compostable bags. And
compostable bags are probably 15 to 20 times more expensive than a comparable poly bag.
Kai: Wow, that's big.
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 17 of 19
WK: Yeah, so it can be a significant factor in putting together a program. So yeah, multiple
challenges. But none of them are insurmountable. They are all very solvable problems. And I
think that's just what it is. So my crusade right now is all about awareness and education and
getting people to understand that they can do this I can show them some sort of savings or
reduction the people like that, others are still just, especially when you get into a larger corporate
setting, they are more interested in achieving zero waste landfill goals. And they have, and I
don't mean to sound trite about this but you know, to have a deeper pocket book. They are
willing to spend money on sustainability, because they can absorb it. And it's less of an impact
than a bistro down the road that lives and dies by every dollar that goes out.
So that's the other thing too. Is that when looking at initial early adapting organizations, you
know, I have to be very targeted with who I approach. I still am very interested in talking to
grocery stores and hospitals. And I mean, when you start to think about hauling all of the large
volume generators of food waste, there's a lot of it out there. I have just gotten the tip of the
iceberg. There is so much out there. So that's my goal is to continue to be able to grow and add
an employee and add a truck and grow the route and grow the business and just to make this
something that is just second nature here in this area.
Kai: That's great. And it's really laudable. I think that's the other thing, you are really
invested in it, obviously, and you know, your commitment is what's making it happen. If it
wasn't for that, you wouldn't have - because you don't have an easy time of it, since you are
essentially starting something from scratch yourself.
WK: That's correct.
Kai: So I mean, it's impressive and that's why we wanted to talk to you and why I'm glad
that I got a chance to do that.
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 18 of 19
WK: I appreciate this and I appreciate the opportunity and yeah, any way that I can be a resource
to you in the future and the organization or whatever, just you know, let me know. And if that
means you can fly me up to New York for a weekend, heck, I'm all for it.
Kai: We'll see what we can do.
WK: Absolutely. But when I started this business and people ask why, why did you do this, you
know? And for me there was just a sense of urgency. Personal and professionally, I needed to do
something that gave me a better feeling about waking up every day and what I was about to do.
And really, like I said, to me, it's always, you talk about an episode of food, water and energy, I
think there's a nexus of three things that have to come together in order to do something like that.
And I think it's passion, skill and opportunity. If I wasn't passionate about it and if I didn't have a
set of skills that would allow me to drive a garbage truck and work on the hydraulics, but also,
you know, plan a budget and look at a PNL, understand cash flow, those things, if I didn't have
that skill set, it would be very tough. And then the opportunity. Like I said, if I wanted to do this
business two years ago in Charleston, I couldn't do it. But now there's an opportunity. So the
three of those things have come together now. To be put in a position where it's at least a viable
plan to give her hell. You know, let her rip, give her hell for a couple of years and let's see what
happens with it. If they can make it work, great. If it doesn't then I'm still young enough that I
think and motivated enough to go out and do something else and get back on my feet. So it's a
win/win all the way around.
Kai: Yeah, it's amazing and again, I just really think that what you are doing is amazing,
really putting yourself out there, and really accomplishing something quite amazing and
something that, it's sounds like is really starting to gain some credence in the Charleston
area.
GRACE Interview
Our Hero: Wayne Koeckeritz of Food Waste Disposal Page 19 of 19
WK: Yes. Yes. I think if you were to do an internet search now you'd see some stories popping
up. The local newspaper, a couple of TV stations. If you put in “compost Charleston,” and
Google it you are going to start to see where there are some momentum and traction. And I'm
always you know, and you probably gathered this, I'm pretty much of an optimist. I'm very much
of a "the glass is three quarters full kind of guy". And in the one area where I tend not to be so
optimistic is in, my own personal success, and it's always because I never want to get too far
ahead of myself. And I don't want to put the food waste cart before the horse. It's an
understanding that while the momentum has been good, it has to be sustainable, no pun intended.
You gotta be able to keep that up and keep the growth going and to continue the acquisition of
new customers and continue that education process. And it's still really exciting. The day it stops
becoming exciting then it's time to not do this anymore. But that's a long way away because there
is so much work to be done, and it's very rewarding when you see that light go on for other
people and they get it.
Kai: Well, Wayne, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.
WK: You're very welcome.
END