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The food scraps recycling program at the Streets Division drop-off sites will end on July 17, 2021.

After that date, residents who had been using the food scraps program should instead place the food scraps into the trash, or find alternative composting options, such as available private services or composting appropriate scraps in backyard bins.

Reduce Food Waste
All residents are encouraged to reduce the food waste and scraps they generate.

According to a waste characterization study performed at the Dane County Landfill, nearly 12% of everything going into the landfill is wasted food, which is good that could have been eaten. This amounts to thousands of tons of wasted food each year. Additionally, roughly 9% of everything that goes to the landfills are food scraps.

When placed into a landfill to decompose, these scraps produce methane. According to the EPA, methane 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere, making it a powerful greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

There are simple steps you can do to help control your contribution of methane to the atmosphere, and also save money.

When you shop for groceries, be sure to follow a plan so not to purchase excess food that will ultimately be wasted.

Then be sure to use the food you purchase or grow, and store it correctly to extend its freshness.

And embrace your creativity to use imperfect foods and transform leftovers or perhaps even donate to area food banks to create opportunity for the folks in our community that need the help.

The Streets Division’s food scraps website, www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps, has resources to help you plan, use, and properly store your food to stop creating food waste.

Why did the City program stop?
Food scraps collected at the drop-off site were going to an anaerobic biodigester that accepts cow manure. The facility is transitioning away from accepting food scraps to instead exclusively process manure.

Additional Information
More information about other Streets Division services can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/streets.

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