Boston Mountain Solid Waste District implemented a food waste recycling program on Feb. 3 and is working closely with the city of Fayetteville and its food waste recycling efforts. “This is brand new to us,” Taylor Osburn, sustainability coordinator for the district, said. “We work very closely with the city of Fayetteville. When there’s a good idea it’s better when we all work together.”
Osburn said food waste is the the single largest category of waste handled by the district and deposited in the Eco-Vista Landfill near Tontitown. Food waste amounts to more than 21% of all the waste collected by the district, she said.
When food waste goes into the landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at creating climate change, Osburn said. When food waste is turned into compost instead, it is used on gardens to build stronger, healthier soil.