https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE Expo
    • Calendar of Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Public Works & Utilities


Article

The value in the valueless

The value in the valueless

Some cities are cutting costs and saving revenue by diverting residential food waste from landfills.
  • Written by Erica Zamensky
  • 7th June 2016

An estimated 33.2 billion tons of food waste – 95 percent of America’s total food waste – ended up in landfills and combustion facilities in 2013, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

It’s an alarming statistic, given unused food waste’s detriment and its benefits if utilized. Rotting food waste emits methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. That methane however, can be harnessed as energy if food waste is processed in a device called an anaerobic digester. Alternatively, food waste will naturally decompose into a rich fertilizer  compost if it’s given steadily turning, soil, water and a few months’ time.

Utilizing these by-products and minimizing climate change is compelling cities across the U.S. to adopt municipal composting programs. The programs vary widely; a few cities like San Francisco, Seattle and (starting later this year) Boulder, Colo. require residents and businesses to separate their food scraps from the rest of their garbage.

Many more cities, like Portland, Ore., offer voluntary programs. The Portland government has required refuse haulers operating in the city to offer every-other-week yard waste collection services since 2005. In 2011, the city decided to spur more residents to participate in the program without requiring it, according to Portland Solid Waste and Recycling Program Manager Bruce Walker.

The city did this by requiring garbage haulers to pick up both food and yard waste (plus recycling) once per week, while scaling back trash pickup to once every other week, Walker says.

“Customers are now needing to think through and say, ‘Gosh, this compost cart gets picked up every week. I can put the food scraps out in that’,” He adds. “Thus they won’t have to have it stick around for a couple weeks before the next garbage collection. So there’s a real incentive to have customers to participate in that regard.”

City data shows the composting program’s number of participants jumped from 700 in 2011 to 900 in 2012, and Walker says there’s been a 33 percent reduction in the amount of garbage citizens are taking to the curb.

“We’ve been very pleased at the results to see [not only the public] participation in our programs, but also that public perception of it remains strong as we instituted these changes,” Walker says. “It’s been several years now, and everyone’s back on board.”

Some east coast cities like New York and Cambridge, Mass. have also instituted initiatives. Cambridge Waste Reduction Program Manager Mike Orr says most of the 600 households that signed up for the city’s 15-month pilot program, which ended in September 2015, set their city-given compost bins out for weekly collection.

The city expanded that program in October 2015 to include 5,200 residential buildings of one to 12 units in a specific area. This program is not an opt-in one; Cambridge officials dropped off compost bins to qualifying buildings, and compost is collected weekly.

Orr notes the first week saw a 45 percent participation rate. That rate has increased to about 51 percent in the time since. He expects citywide service for these buildings to start in September 2017.

“We’re hoping to get a little bit better, but we haven’t seen huge jumps since the first day went into effect,” Orr says. “So we’re trying to pick away at that and try and get a couple extra bins out every week.”

Mountain View, Calif. tested two methods in its six-month composting pilot program, which was completed in January. The city split its designated pilot area into two parts; one part implemented a Cambridge-like program. The other was more similar to Portland., according to Mountain View Solid Waste Program Manager Lori Topley.

On April 26, the Mountain View City Council directed officials to explore implementing the more successful Portland-like method citywide. The City Council would likely review the additional analysis and establish an implementation schedule by the end of the year, according to the pilot program review document.

Although reception has been tepid, Topley is positive about the new program, as changing garbage collection days will save the city money. Residents will pay less for compost collection than trash collection, too.

The challenge, she says, will lie in getting residents to change not only their trash-related habits, but also their mindsets.

“Instead of thinking about your garbage as garbage, it really requires you to think about everything that leaves your house as either valuable or not so valuable,” she explains. “What we’re saying is, we want to rearrange the way we pick up stuff from your house, so that you think about it a little bit differently.”

 

_____________

To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on YouTube

Tags: In-Depth Public Works & Utilities Article

Most Recent


  • last-mile
    How green last-mile infrastructure benefits your community
    Overseeing transportation is one of the most important jobs of municipal leaders as it underpins a wide range of aspects within a municipality, including its economy, community connectedness and the health of the local environment. One of the most deceptively challenging elements of effectively overseeing transportation is the development of last-mile transit infrastructure. That is, […]
  • metal buildings
    Metal buildings: Their versatility and durability suit them for public sector infrastructure
    Some cities and counties are looking at one structure type to help them meet their infrastructure needs, says Phil Skellorn, senior structural engineer at Buro Happold, an engineering and consulting services firm. “Some public owners are looking at metal buildings as an economical option.” Skellorn says metal buildings can offer advantages if the off-the-shelf product […]
  • parking
    The future of parking in the 15-minute city
    At first glance, the 15-minute city spells the end for the parking industry. Designed specifically to cut emissions from private car usage, the city planning model calls for decentralized neighborhoods where residents can live, learn, shop and work without needing to drive. The 15-minute city would enable people to get anywhere they need to go […]
  • Railway safety
    Local leaders, NLC gather on Capital Hill to advocate for railway safety legislation
    Following approval last week of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act by the Senate Commerce Committee—with an added amendment commissioning the National Academy of Sciences to study frequently blocked railway crossings—local leaders continued their push for its full Congressional approval Wednesday at an advocacy briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by the National League of Cities (NLC).  […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • NLC releases State of Cities 2021 report
  • How local governments can get ahead of the infrastructure wave: Strategies to mitigate risk
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery
  • Ultrafast electric vehicle charging will propel local governments into the future

White papers


5 reasons why Plan Examiners need Objective Trapeze

30th May 2023

7 Permitting & Licensing Fails Slowing Community Growth

24th May 2023

The Secret Ingredient to Local Government Employee Retention

23rd May 2023
view all

Webinars


How to Centralize and Build a Grants Management Process at your Organization

24th May 2023

Making Permitting Easier: What We’ve Learned Helping America’s Largest Cities Improve Their Permitting Process

16th May 2023

Digital Property Tax Collection: Tales from the Trenches of Modernization

16th May 2023
view all

PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Gallery: Annual index ranks America’s top performing cities; most are in the West

30th May 2023

Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs

25th May 2023

Gallery: 10 of America’s most affordable cities

9th May 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Digital government comes with massive benefits — and new considerations, from accessibility to security to customer… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

31st May 2023
AmerCityCounty

5 reasons why Plan Examiners need Objective Trapeze dlvr.it/Sptl5z

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Navigating crises with confidence: Five ways strategic plans support crisis response dlvr.it/SptVKN

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Gallery: Annual index ranks America’s top performing cities; most are in the West dlvr.it/SpszdK

30th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

2022 Crown Communities Award winner: Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts’ jury selection system dlvr.it/SphCBk

26th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

Gallery: Top 10 American cities for seasonal and summer jobs dlvr.it/SpdFWy

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

How to leverage digital tools to drive innovation in government dlvr.it/Spcktb

25th May 2023
AmerCityCounty

With many cities facing a fiscal cliff as ARPA funding ends, debt ceiling debate continues on Capitol Hill dlvr.it/SpZLph

24th May 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.