Nearly 100 cities are currently diverting food waste from landfills. Although this is great, it’s far from becoming the norm considering most major cities still don’t even have curbside recycling!
San Francisco has collected one million tons of compostable organic waste since its composting program began more than 15 years ago. Today, the city collects 600 tons a day as part of its overall effort to achieve zero waste by 2020.
“San Francisco may have been the first major US city to mandate composting, but it is no longer the only one. Curbside composting has experienced unprecedented growth over the last three years. There are now more than 90 cities with such programs, according to Bruce Walker, solid waste and recycling program manager from the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability in Portland, Ore.,” (Governing.com).
Why are so many cities taking part in composting? Landfills are maxed out! Americans generate 250 million tons of garbage per year. “Before San Francisco started its composting program in 1996, a city study found that more than one-third of all waste entering landfills could be composted instead. Today, between composting and recycling, the city diverts 78 percent of its waste from landfills,” (Governing.com).
San Francisco and other composting cities have found that it is cheaper to compost than dump garbage, because it extends the life of landfills by saving space. Diverting food from landfills also reduces carbon emissions and the risk of potential groundwater pollution. Additionally, the end product of composting can be reused and resold as fertilizer.
“But curbside composting is likely years off for most municipalities. Most major U.S. cities still don’t even have curbside recycling programs. Nationwide, the recycling rate is only 33.8 percent -- 3 percent of which represents composting of food waste -- according to the Environmental Protection Agency,” (Governing.com).
Educating the public on how and why they should contribute to these efforts is a very important factor in the success of these programs. If residents don’t know why they should be saving organic waste, they’re far less likely to do so!
