{"id":166008,"date":"2024-07-15T00:45:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T04:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/?p=166008"},"modified":"2025-01-27T22:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T03:46:18","slug":"city-helping-aspen-co-restaurants-comply-with-compost-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/city-helping-aspen-co-restaurants-comply-with-compost-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"City Helping Aspen, CO Restaurants Comply with Compost Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d said Cathy Hall, Pitkin County\u2019s solid waste director. \u201cAnd that\u2019s all from Aspen\u2019s ordinance.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

In Pitkin County, diverting food waste and other organics \u2014 meaning, anything that was, at one point, alive \u2014 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\u2019s city limits that now fall under the compost requirement, most of which are restaurants. Some started compost programs before last fall\u2019s deadline, but most are new to the process.<\/p>\n

To read the full story, visit https:\/\/www.aspendailynews.com\/news\/city-helping-aspen-restaurants-comply-with-compost-mandate\/article_5594d6e0-418b-11ef-b3a7-aff76b67bf7d.html<\/a>.
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