Reducing the Impact of Wasted Food by Feeding the Soil and Composting
On this page:
- What is Compost
- Benefits of Compost
- Success Stories
Composting is the fifth tier of EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy. Even when all actions have been taken to use your wasted food, certain inedible parts will still remain and can be turned into compost to feed and nourish the soil. Like yard waste, food waste scraps can also be composted. Composting these wastes creates a product that can be used to improve soils, grow the next generation of crops, and enhance water quality. In 2018, 2.6 million tons of food (4.1 percent of wasted food) was composted. Americans recovered over 69 million tons of MSW through recycling and almost 25 million tons through composting. This equates to 1.16 pounds per person per day for recycling and 0.42 pounds per person per day for composting. Food composting curbside collection programs served 6.1 million households in 2017, the most recent year for which information is available.
What is Compost?
Gardeners and farmers add compost to soil to improve its physical properties. They may even use compost instead of soil to grow plants. Mature compost is a stable material with a content called humus that is dark brown or black and has a soil-like, earthy smell.
Compost is created by:
- Combining organic wastes, such as wasted food, yard trimmings, and manures, in the right ratios into piles, rows, or vessels.
- Adding bulking agents, such as wood chips, to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials.
- Allowing the finished material to fully stabilize and mature through a curing process.
Mature compost is created using high temperatures to destroy pathogens and weed seeds that natural decomposition does not destroy. There are also many types of composting.
Benefits of Composting
Composting offers several benefits that are often overlooked. Here are some examples:
- Organic waste in landfills generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Composting reduces methane emissions significantly.
- Compost reduces or even eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers.
- Compost promotes higher agricultural crop yields.
- Compost aids in reforestation, wetlands restoration, and habitat revitalization by improving contaminated, compacted, and marginal soils.
- Compost can be used to remediate soils contaminated by hazardous waste cost-effectively.
- Compost provides cost savings over conventional soil, water, and air pollution remediation technologies where applicable.
- Compost enhances water retention in soils.
- Compost provides carbon sequestration.
Success Stories
Disclaimer of Endorsement: Reference to any specific commercial products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
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New Seasons Markets
New Seasons Markets operates 12 stores in the Pacific Northwest and supports the local economy and sustainable agriculture. Since 2006, they have increased diversion of organic materials, including food waste to compost, by 109 percent. Since 2011, they have diverted more than 2,410 tons of food from landfills and saved over $25,000 in waste expenses.
Petco Park
Petco Park, home to the San Diego Padres, implemented a food composting program in 2005, saving money on trash disposal. In 2011, Petco Park diverted 164 tons from landfill, saving $75,000 since 2005.
Middlebury College
Middlebury College in Vermont initiated a food waste composting program in 1993. They now compost 90 percent of the food waste generated on campus, saving over $100,000 in landfill fees by recycling and composting in 2011.
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