Editor's note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published on January 17, 2017.
Many Americans faithfully recycle plastic bottles and newspapers, but throw food and yard waste straight into the trash.
A banana peel here and a pile of spoiled vegetables there might not seem like they would do much harm to the environment, but in reality, food waste is the second-largest component of trash sent to U.S. landfills, making up 18 percent of all waste, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).1
Yard scraps make up 7 percent. Combined, this organic waste makes up the largest portion of U.S. trash, more than any other material, including paper and plastic.
In total, food waste alone sends over 30 million tons of waste to U.S. landfills each year. This is especially tragic because food waste and yard waste are easily recyclable, but not always thrown in curbside recycling bins.
In fact, it's quite simple to “recycle” this type of organic material right in your own backyard. It's called composting, and it's slowly but surely being adopted on a large scale across the United States.
Large-scale composting is gaining popularity
The Prince George, Maryland, composting facility, which already processes thousands of tons of lawn waste every day, accepts food waste.
In a project that began a few years ago, 25 commercial customers sent in food waste, such as coffee grounds and vegetable peelings (and even pizza boxes), which were naturally composted and turned into valuable natural resources. According to The Christian Science Monitor:2
“… (A) lack of landfill space, favorable public policy, social pressure, and other factors have led to industrial-scale efforts to turn discarded food into useful products.
For example, states like California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island have banned large corporations, including large food producers, convention centers and supermarkets, from throwing food away, making composting a popular alternative.”
Curbside recycling programs will soon expand to collect food waste along with paper towel rolls (even dirty paper products, including paper towels, are often compostable).
Residential food composting programs have been piloted in several U.S. cities, including New York, Austin, and Milwaukee, and now collect residential food waste in more than 180 communities.3 Many programs began by allowing residents to place food waste in their yard waste recycling bins.
For example, the city of Oak Park, Illinois, piloted a residential food waste program in 2012 and expanded it into a subscription service in 2013. By 2017, about 740 households and six multifamily buildings had participated.
Organics recycling service costs an additional $14 per month and is estimated to divert about 10 pounds of food waste and dirty paper per week per household from landfill and into compost.4
Composting offers impressive benefits
Composting food waste is about more than just conserving limited landfill space. First, when organic matter piles up in landfills, bacteria break it down into methane gas, the third-largest source of emissions in the United States.5 So reducing the amount of organic matter entering landfills will also reduce these emissions.
Another important thing to note is that food waste can be converted into a valuable resource, compost. Compost is often described as a fertilizer, but it is actually most valuable because of its organic content.
According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Research (ILSR), it improves the chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil while reducing fertilizer use.6 ILSR notes that topsoil loss and erosion are major problems of the 21st century, causing watershed problems and threatening “our ability to sustain life on Earth.”
“Advancing composting and compost use is a critical sustainability strategy that creates jobs, protects watersheds, improves soil vitality, and builds resilient local economies,” they continued. ILSR highlighted the many benefits of composting soil amendments in its 2014 report, “The State of Composting in the United States.”7
- Improved soil quality and structure
- Erosion and sedimentation control
- Improved moisture retention
- Reduced chemical demands
- Reduction of non-point source pollution
Composting helps the soil absorb carbon.
The Marin Carbon Project in Northern California, which began in 2008, has shown how valuable composting can be to communities. Researchers spread a half-inch of compost on land used for livestock grazing and monitored the land for more than a decade.8
Forage in composted areas increased from 40% to 70% year over year. The change was so dramatic that cattle tended to forage primarily in the composted areas.
The project also showed that the soil's water-holding capacity increased, which is a major benefit in drought-prone areas.
Also of note, an increase in soil carbon was observed. It is estimated that one third of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere comes from poor land management practices that contribute to the loss of carbon, such as carbon dioxide, from agricultural lands.9
So-called carbon farming is a simple premise that uses agricultural methods like composting to naturally lock up carbon dioxide in the ground for decades, centuries or even longer, while simultaneously absorbing it from the air.
This process, known as “carbon sequestration,” can help regenerate soil while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
Other benefits have been shown, including increased plant productivity and a reduced need for commercial feed. If it can be done in California, it can be done anywhere, with radical environmental benefits.
Compost tea for improving soil health
Green Pastures Farm in Rucker, Missouri, is another prime example of composting. They raise grass-fed beef and other livestock without chemical fertilizers or herbicides, using compost, rotational grazing, and other natural methods to improve soil biology.
Compost tea, a liquid made by steeping compost in water, has been shown to be particularly beneficial for improving soil health, farmer Greg Judy told Holistic Management International.10
“One pound of properly made compost will produce 300 gallons of compost tea. If your soil is completely depleted, you only need 30 gallons per acre of tea… In healthy soil, when plants graze, their roots do not die. The plants simply provide food for soil life through their roots.
They still maintain their root structure and can access water and minerals from below ground to grow more forage above ground! This opens up a whole new way of looking at grazing, especially in areas where drought is common.
Compost tea can improve any soil, anywhere, so the possibilities are huge! Since the biggest expense on a farm is land, if you can double your feed with compost tea, you’ve just bought a whole new farm for a fraction of the cost.”
Barriers to large-scale composting
With the enormous benefits and potential to change the way we handle food waste in the United States, why haven’t more large-scale composting programs been launched? As ILSR points out:11
“The potential to scale up composting is enormous. The United States throws away 164 million tons of trash each year. Nearly half of what Americans throw away—food scraps, yard scraps, dirty paper—can be composted.”
But there are many barriers to expansion—none of which are insurmountable—composting consultant Richard Plamer told the San Diego Leader.12
“…(F)factors including low ‘tipping fees’ at local landfills, lack of composting facilities near population centers, lack of coordination among various waste service providers, and ‘poorly written or nonexistent zoning and local land use restrictions’ all contribute to relatively low composting participation rates across the county.”
In many areas, the cost of composting food waste is still higher than the cost of dumping it in a landfill (in some cities, the opposite is true). There is also the dilemma that businesses are reluctant to invest in composting facilities until they have a guaranteed supply of organic materials to support composting. But city governments are reluctant to collect organic materials until they know there are composting facilities.13
You can compost in your backyard
Ideally, a citywide recycling program will soon be expanded to collect food and yard waste along with other recyclables, and organics will be sent to a composting facility. But you don’t have to wait for that to happen to reap the benefits of composting in your own backyard.
You can compost in a pile, box, or pre-made tumbling compost bin. The latter are very convenient, but can cost upwards of $200. A less expensive option is to make your own from wood, recycled plastic, or chicken wire.
A tumbler (rotating drum) is great because it makes aeration very easy. You only have to turn the drum every few days, which is less work than turning the pile with a fork or shovel. It also composts much faster. You can have a great compost in a week or two, but it takes months to digest the pile.
Many municipalities also sell dumpsters at reasonable prices. Choose a dumpster that holds at least one cubic yard for optimal humidity and temperature control.
The compost area should be conveniently located, as close to the source of the material (kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, or dirty paper products) as possible, and unsightly. If you use a pile or bin, it is best to use two. This will give you space to add fresh waste while the compost pile hardens. Happy composting!
