Sep 1 - DNC Trash Being Turned Into Compost Outside Denver (Examiner)

The City of Los Angeles has voted to enact a pilot curb-side food waste composting program to roughly 5000 households. Along with a blue bin for recycling, a green bin for yard waste, and a black bin for garbage, the city will distribute a fourth, smaller container to accept table scraps.

A convenient curbside food waste collection option will increase the city's waste diversion rate:

A survey conducted by city officials in 2002 found that single-family homes generate 230,000 tons of food waste annually that could be turned into compost. That survey found nearly 27% of the garbage in the black bins was food waste.

Read the L.A. Times Article>>

CAW and Composting

CAW feels that composting of organic waste not only addresses landfill capacity, but is also an effective green-house gas mitigation measure.

Recycling and composting expected to be mandatory by year's end

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a law that would make Recycling and Composting mandatory within the city. San Francisco already has the highest diversion rate in the country at 70% and city officials say that this law would be neccessary in order for it to reach their goal of 75%. Jacoba Charles of Plenty Magazine reports:

“We’ve already reached the people who know it’s the right thing to do,” says Thea Hillman with the San Francisco Department of the Environment. “Now we’re at the folks who need not so much the carrot but more of the stick.”

Although mandatory recycling ordinances are already in place in some U.S. cities, San Francisco would be the first to mandate composting.

A major area this law would address is the lower diversion rate for multi-family units. Apartment owners don't always supply recycling & composting bins for their tenants. The enactment of the ordinance would require landlords to provide these bins. This would have a significant impact on the rate since a majority of San Francisco residents are renters.

Read the article here>>

CAW and Recycling/Composting:

May 25 - Organic waste should not go to landfill, says US campaigner (Sunday Business Post)