In October, the city of Aspen implemented the first stage of its February 2023 organic waste-diversion ordinance, which requires any business with a retail food license to divert food waste from the landfill. In practice, this means that all restaurants and catering companies working within the city limits need to compost any organic waste. Data collected at the landfill shows that the amount of food waste coming into the compost section of the landfill increased by 70% in the first four months of this year, which includes many restaurants鈥� busy ski season, compared to the same period in 2023. The year-to-date increase is 54%, which reflects the fact that many restaurants close in May and early June.
鈥淚t鈥檚 huge,鈥� said Cathy Hall, Pitkin County鈥檚 solid waste director. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 all from Aspen鈥檚 ordinance.鈥� Keeping food waste out of the landfill is beneficial not only because it helps to preserve space in the rapidly filling dump 8 miles downvalley from Aspen, but because it keeps that food from rotting under layers of other trash and turning into methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.
In Pitkin County, diverting food waste and other organics 鈥� meaning, anything that was, at one point, alive 鈥� out of the landfill has the potential for a big impact. A 2022 waste sort showed that compostable organic waste made up 33% of municipal, household trash; on the commercial side, compostable organics accounted for 38% of trash. Hall attributes the near-doubling of compost coming into the landfill to the 104 businesses in Aspen鈥檚 city limits that now fall under the compost requirement, most of which are restaurants. Some started compost programs before last fall鈥檚 deadline, but most are new to the process.
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