May 22 - Austin to Require Food Waste Recycling

Businesses and restaurants in Austin, TX will be required to recycle food waste beginning in 2016 as part of new legislation that is designed to help the city divert 90% of waste from landfills by 2040.

Austin is joining the ranks of other cities in states like Pennsylvania, Vermont, Oregon and California that have implemented organics recycling programs as a way to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills, while creating new jobs, sustainable development and infrastructure.

Recycling organic materials like food waste and yard debris helps create a great source of fertilizer and reduces the production of uncaptured Methane, which is a Greenhouse Gas 25 times more powerful than Carbon Dioxide. When food waste is used in anaerobic digesters like the one Kroger just opened in Compton, it can be used to create renewable energy.

Organics recycling is good for the economy and will provide a source of new green jobs in California according to CalRecycle.

Those are the reasons Californians Against Waste supports AB 323 (Chesbro), which would require producers of large amounts of organic waste, like food waste, to subscribe to a recycling service for that material.

Find out more about what CAW is doing to promote organics recycling policies, and take a moment to support our work.

Compost photo credit: WSU.