food diversion

July 28, 2021

 

Media Borough, Pennsylvania’s Food Compost Program uses a witty video encouraging participation in its organic waste diversion and composting program. We had to share – not only is it fun – it works!

The Borough launched its pilot program to gauge the feasibility of adding food scrap collection to its current recycling efforts. This month the program is available to all residents.   The food scrap collection program provides residents the opportunity to separate food from the rest of their household waste for collection and composting at a local compost farm.

Media Borough estimates it has 70%  recycling participation in the community – that’s an impressive number. Its current recycling and yard waste programs divert close to 30% of residential solid waste from landfills and incinerators.  Adding a food scrap collection program can reduce residential waste by another 30% and create compost.

The Borough’s Public Works website explains the reasons why organic matter, matters.

  • Composting reduces greenhouse gases.   Composting keeps food scraps out of the incinerator, decreasing pollution and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas 310 times more powerful in atmospheric warming than carbon dioxide.
  • Composting reduces energy consumption.   The composting process requires fewer work hours than incineration and no fuel deliveries, further lowering greenhouse gases.
  • Composting turns food waste into a valuable resource.  When we compost food waste, we create nutrient-rich fertilizer used by local farmers and gardeners.   Instead of sending food waste to be burned in the solid waste incinerator, composting recycles nutrients and fiber back into the soil where it can support the growth of fresh new food for our tables.

 

Thank you to this Pennsylvania community and its Public Works department for helping to sustain future generations with their reduce, reuse, and recycling actions.  We hope by sharing their video and results, we’ll see greater participation in communities nationwide.

 

Get inspired watching Gotta, Getta Bucket, and consider a pilot program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Diane Samuels at 6:00 am

February 10, 2020

Recently, Waste360 published “Organics Diversion Drives Changes in Landfill Operators’ Roles,” an article examining the evolving role of landfill operators in organics waste diversion. Five industry leaders provide insight into how landfill operators and the solid waste industry are adapting to accommodate the evolution and the cost of organics management.

Waste360 interviewed:

  • Susan Robinson, senior director of sustainability at Waste Management
  • Robert Gardner, senior vice president at SCS Engineers
  • David Biderman, executive director, and CEO for Solid Waste Association of North America
  • Jason Munyan, manager of engineering for the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, and
  • Jim Stone, deputy director of public works/operations for San Joaquin County, California

The article provides best practices, strategies, technology, and systems that could support or supplement landfill operators’ response plans to the changing policies and contract requirements in more economically sustainable ways. Waste360 rounds up answers to the most common challenges operators and public works departments face including how to reduce permitting time, cost, and environmental impact.

Read the article

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Diane Samuels at 6:01 am

July 13, 2016

By following the simple procedures governing selective routing in the commercial space, it is possible to turn a high disposal garbage collection system into a high diversion recycling system, without incurring additional costs or losing collection revenue. Read more…

Tracie Onstad Bills of SCS Engineers and Richard Gertman of For Sustainability Too explain the steps for commercial-stream routing and management of commercial recyclables with remarkable results in their Resource Recycling article published in June 2016.

Questions? Ask Tracie, she writes a blog series about recycling.

Contact Tracie directly. 

Posted by Diane Samuels at 6:00 am