Embrace recycling of food waste

The Olympian • Published July 17, 2008

• Comments (0)

The city of Olympia has moved a step closer to its vision of “zero waste,” with the expansion of its yard waste residential program to include food waste and food-soiled paper such as pizza boxes and fast food takeout containers.

It’s a great step forward for the city, for residents and for the environment.

In June 2006 the Olympia City Council adopted a zero waste resolution with a stated goal of eliminating the need for landfill space. The resolution spells out a vision where all products and packaging consumed or sold in Olympia either will be reused or recycled and where discards from every household or business are collected for reuse or remanufacture. It’s a tall order.

In 2005, Olympia’s residents and businesses generated 64,700 tons of waste, of which an estimated 32,900 tons (51 percent) was composted or recycled. It was estimated that 28 percent of the garbage sent to the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center and then on to the regional landfill was potentially recyclable.

Program’s development

Last November, when the City Council adopted a six-year zero waste plan, city officials said a curbside food collection program was feasible thanks to the opening of a composting facility in Thurston County.

Now, eight months later, the city of Olympia has launched its food debris collection system with the waste products going to Silver Springs Organics, a composting center near Rainier. Olympia is following the lead of Pacific Disposal, the other major recycling company in Thurston County. Pacific Disposal kicked off its food waste recovery program for more than 10,000 yard waste customers two months ago.

Olympia recycling crews will spend this month distributing countertop pails and educational brochures to more than 6,000 residential customers who subscribe to the curbside yard waste program. Another 7,500 Olympia customers do not subscribe to the yard waste program, and the hope is to convince 1,300 of them to make the switch by the end of next year.