Boston will soon pick up food-only waste curbside, along with trash and recycling, for residents interested in composting their food scraps. Food waste accounts for one-third of Boston’s waste stream, according to Boston chief of streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge, and it’s the country’s largest single landfill material according to the FDA. When food waste rots in landfills instead of being composted, it produces methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases.
But when food waste is separated from trash, it reduces the load of landfills (which are filling up in the region), and is turned into either compost or an electric power supply. Bostonians can soon put their food waste to good use for free. Open enrollment for the pilot food waste pickup service begins June 1 at boston.gov/food-waste — space is limited. Residents of buildings with six or fewer units can enroll, and waste collection begins in August.
“We’re excited to introduce this program to Boston residents to help meet our zero waste goals,” said Franklin-Hodge. “Our goal is to educate residents on ways to reduce the amount of food waste they generate.” Besides reducing the city’s landfill waste, lowering emissions, and creating new soil for crops, the food waste program will also save money in the long run. In 2014, Cambridge launched its pilot food waste collection, which it expanded citywide in 2018. The more food waste the city collects instead of trash, the more money they save, Cambridge’s recycling director Michael Orr said. “We pay about $109 per ton for trash whereas compost costs about $65 per ton,” said Orr.