Organics Recycling
Organics recycling is about life. It is about respecting the earth and renewing what we use from it. Organics
recycling transforms organic waste into a reusable resource through composting. You can compost everything from grass and leaves to fruits and vegetables,
and more. Through composting, you recapture essential ingredients that can be used to enrich and preserve the health of soils - and grow anew.
No doubt, you know about recycling metals, glass, paper and plastics. Well, the idea behind recycling organics isn't all that different:
• Metals are recycled through a smelter.No doubt, you know about recycling metals, glass, paper and plastics. Well, the idea behind recycling organics isn't all that different:
• Glass and plastics are recycled through a furnace.
• Paper and cardboard are recycled through re-pulping.
• Organics are recycled through composting.
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Composting is how you recycle organic waste. It reduces what we send to landfill and reclaims resources that are part of our daily lives. There is no longer any reason to let your organic wastes go to waste. WHY COMPOST?
Since you're reading this, you probably already know something - maybe even a lot - about composting. Though maybe you're new to composting. But whatever
point you are starting from, we want you to know the good that composting can do.
There is confirmed scientific evidence that composting • Reclaims micro- and macro-nutrients from organic waste • Enriches soil naturally, lowers dependence on fertilizers • Improves water flow and water-holding capacity in heavy soils • Reduces water loss, runoff and erosion • May combat plant disease and lower dependence on pesticides • Can bind and degrade specific pollutants. You may already compost in your backyard, or through your town or city services, or possibly as part of a community group. If not, now is a good time. Many websites have good information to help you get started. Every effort helps, but there is something else you should know about composting: bigger can sometimes be better. A large commercial or municipal composting facility can maintain and monitor the conditions needed to properly compost the new generation of compostable plastics: 140°F for 10 consecutive days. That fact is key to making organics recycling and composting work both for those who generate large amounts of organic waste - cities, towns, schools, restaurants and other institutions - and those who want to recycle but are not backyard composters. Good news: there are 3,000 composting facilities up and running across America. TYPES OF ORGANICS RECYCLING
Organics Recycling by the NumbersEach year in the United States, food waste and yard trimmings account for about 26% of all municipal solid waste (MSW) - what we call trash or garbage. That's about 65 million tons, or 130,000,000,000 pounds. Add wood and paper to that and we're talking over 60% of MSW - and a pile more commas and zeroes. Generally, wood, paper and paperboard (or 'cardboard') go to different recycling streams than composting: mulch or energy recovery for wood; re-pulping for paper and paperboard. So let's just look at yard trimmings and food scraps. Food and Yard Recycling of yard trimmings is already well established: 21 million tons recycled out of about 33 million generated. That's a recycling rate of 65% - second highest of any material tracked by the EPA. The story for food scraps is just the opposite - dead last. Of about 32 million tons, less than 1 million is recycled, which makes food waste the best area of opportunity to improve our rates of organic recycling. OBSTACLES
Food waste is definitely the low fruit of organics recycling. All of us can make a big difference - both as individuals, and as a society. But, like
anything worth doing, recycling food waste will take some doing. Although it is similar in some ways to recycling metals, paper, plastics and glass,
recycling food waste requires more effort and care.
Mixed Garbage
First step is to separate food waste from all other garbage.High Water Content
Compared to most garbage, food waste has higher water content so it weighs more and can leak. It's more challenging to store and heavier to haul.Plastic Bags
Ordinary plastic garbage bags won't work for food waste - or yard waste for that matter - because they won't compost, either in your back yard or at a
municipal composting facility. Fortunately, because some chemical companies that make plastics have invested in the "green science", there now are plastic
materials and bags that will completely compost under the proper conditions at
municipal composting facilities. It is important to know that, despite many claims, the technology does not exist to make a plastic garbage bag that
will completely compost in backyard bins or piles.
Odor and Decay
Kitchen garbage lets you know when you've waited too long to take it out, or when it has sat too long outside. Recycling food waste requires more
diligence, containers with tighter seals, and more regular cleaning.
Lack of Disposal and Carting Programs
Just like you, your sanitation department, garbage collector or carting company has to do more work to recycle food waste. But there is a growing effort
on the institutional side - restaurants, schools, and their carting companies - to make organics recycling work.
Organics recycling of food waste will require more effort in how we manage trash, but the potential for reducing landfill demands - and for reaping the benefits from reclaimed resources - sets a clear target for those efforts. SUPPORT
Maybe you've seen a commercial that shows a snack food package deteriorating in compost. It's real. The companies that make compostable packaging
materials, and those that package the products we buy, are helping us reduce litter and landfill by making it possible and easier to recycle organics.
And there is a growing network of composters and recycling associations. Use the following links to retrieve information about your local composting programs BioCycle magazine EPA www.findacomposter.org See and hear people from restaurants and institutions that are doing something about the organic waste they generate. |
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