Apple cores, crusty lasagna and other food scraps have been weeded out of many Snohomish County trash cans for about six months.
Instead, homeowners in nearly half the county’s single-family homes have been asked and encouraged to drop their leftover food into their yard waste can so it can be converted into gardening compost.
Called a soft launch, the county’s foray into recycling food waste appears to be succeeding, but no good numbers are in yet, said Sego Jackson, a planner with the solid waste division of Snohomish County.
“It’s very important that we remove organics from the garbage waste stream, because those materials get transported to a landfill,” Jackson said. “Inside the landfills, they generate methane gas. Methane gas is one of the most detrimental greenhouse gases.”
About half of homes in Snohomish County have yard waste bins, and about 80 percent of those now are allowed to recycle their food scraps, he said.
Over time, the goal is to get everyone to recycle their food waste, something that Cedar Grove Composting of Seattle is banking on.
The company is pursing a major expansion of its composting facility on Smith Island in north Everett, an expansion that hinges on residents of Snohomish County and the rest of the Puget Sound region substantially increasing the amount of food waste that they recycle, said John Brigham, the company’s chief financial officer.
“It’s all about sustainability, doing what’s right for the environment,” he said. “We really do take it out of your yards and put it back in your yards.”
The food and yard waste from throughout Snohomish County and north King County gets trucked to Cedar Grove’s facilities in Everett. The grimy material gets dumped in a giant covered holding area, and then is ground up and conveyed into long piles that are blanketed with Gore Cover, a kind of breathable plastic that helps the material turn into organic compost that is used in gardens across the region. Inside, warm and toasty bugs digest the material, converting it into organic compost that goes into backyard gardens.
Bringham said Cedar Grove is seeking permits to fill in a marginal wetland area on its Smith Island property, explaining that the company would replace the lost habitat with much higher-quality tidal wetlands along the edge of the Snohomish River delta.
The recovery plan for chinook salmon and other struggling fish states that it is tidal marshlands where salt and fresh water mix that is among the most scarce types of habitat in the Snohomish River basin, and that the lack of such habitat is one of the largest obstacles to fish recovery.
Cedar Grove also wants to harvest methane given off as the food and woody debris breaks down during the composting process. That methane, which contributes to global warming when released in the atmosphere, would be burned to generate electricity.
Early on in the food waste recycling program, Cedar Grove is learning along with everyone else, said Susan Thoman, director of marketing and business development.
The company is finding that many cardboard milk cartons that they thought would break down in the composting process are gumming up the works because they have a layer of plastic in them. The same with certain paper plates and cups.
She said restaurants and grocery stores find that recycling their food scraps is cheaper than throwing them away, but that a lot of plastics and other nonorganic material ends up in the waste stream.
“It takes a lot of education,” she said. “We’re having to do a lot of up-front screening.”
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
Check on rules for adding compost
Waste Management and Allied Waste have allowed some customers to recycle their food waste in their yard waste bins since March. Check with your hauler for more information.
Waste Management NW www.wmnorthwest.com 800-592-9995
Allied Waste, also known as Rabanco or Lynnwood Disposal www.rabanco.com 425-646-2400
Rubatino Refuse Removal www.rubatino.com 425-259-0044
Snohomish County Solid Waste www1.co.snohomish.wa.us 425-388-3425
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