Chris Ahlers

BioCycle: Residential food collections grew by 8% in 2014

According to research conducted by BioCycle, a national composting publication, 198 municipalities across the nation offer residential food waste collections.

The number is up about 8.2% compared to 2012 figures (BioCycle pegs the figure as “almost 9 percent”), when it was reported that 183 cities made curbside organics collections available to residents.
The largest segment of the population that recycles resides in the Western region of the U.S., and of the approximately 2.74 million households that recycle, nearly half are in California.

Other states where food recycling is faring well include Texas, New York, and Ohio. In these states, approximately 200,000 households are regularly recycling organics through curbside collection programs. Food waste collection is offered to a significant amount of residential customers in Oregon and Washington.

The U.S. diverts less than 5% of food waste generated by residents. Advocates conclude that finding solutions to divert food scraps could boost stagnating diversion rates across the U.S.

Source: Waste Dive

MD issues executive order to increase recycling, raise diversion rate

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) has issued an executive order to increase recycling, reuse, waste diversion, and composting across the state. The order is effective immediately.

The order will also limit new or expanded municipal landfills, including debris landfills that accept materials from land clearing.

The order highlights Maryland’s ambitious goal of reaching 85% waste diversion and an 80% recycling rate by 2040. The state government must hit a mandatory recycling rate of 65% by 2020, and is expected to divert a minimum of 60% of its organic waste using recycling, composting, and anaerobic digestion by that year.

Maryland’s “Zero Waste Plan” was issued in 2014, with a focus on the role that anaerobic digesters can play in order to help attain the state’s goals.