In an effort to get Seattle to recycle 60 percent of its trash by 2012, the mayor has proposed food waste collection. Seattle currently diverts 44 percent of its waste from landfills, and food recycling would help the city reach its goal. San Francisco and Portland, which both separate food waste, have a 69 and 59 percent diversion rates, respectively.
Food waste collection might just work in Seattle, because the mayor has proposed a system with teeth.
In 2010, the city would begin punishing people in single-family homes who don’t recycle food scraps by not collecting their garbage.
I like the rationale–no recycling, no trash pickup–but the logic is backwards:
The ban would not apply to restaurants or grocery stores, which produce twice as much food waste as residents do.
Why go after the minnows, but not the sharks?
3 Comments
I wonder if a system like this could lead to dumping by people too lazy or somehow unable to sort their waste themselves. In areas where there is a price associated with solid waste disposal, illegal dumping tends to be a problem. Then again, these tend to be rural areas where everyone has a car, a lot of people have a truck, and it’s easy to hide garbage in some remote section of woods.
You’re right, illegal dumping is a potential pitfall of this plan. While it may be easier to find a dumping place in rural areas, the anonymity an apartment building in an urban setting could elminate the shame factor in not having the trash picked up.
Still, I’d bet most people would cooperate in a progressive city like Seattle. As for middle America–we’ll see. I’ve learned that from my composting that scraping food waste into a separate container (and not the disposal, which isn’t the best for food scraps) is definitely not the path of least resistance. That’s why I think the threat of the stick (no trash pickup) will work better than the carrot (some sort of incentive for recycling).
I thought you might be able to help this person that just posted this question on a social marketing listserv that I am on.
Hi
Can anyone direct me to any examples they know of where there has been a successful campaign to increase the amount of food waste being recycled (for turning into compost) as opposed to being thrown into refuse. I am looking to organise a campaign to increase the number of participants in a kitchen waste collection service and would appreciate any examples of successful past projects – any links to press coverage/contact details for organisations would be great. Thanks
John.
Johnathan Schroder
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