The city is adding more drop-off locations for food waste in hopes more residents will participate in the program. Greater participation could set the stage for residential curbside pickup of the scraps for compost. The city wants to add at least five more drop-off places. Recycling and trash employees are working with the city’s geographic information system staff to identify parts of town without collection points so residents have relatively equal distant options, said Brian Pugh, waste reduction coordinator.
The recycling plan the City Council adopted in 2017 outlines ways to divert 40% of the city’s waste from the landfill by 2027. The diversion rate has hovered around 20% the past 15 years. The plan recommends eventually having residential curbside pickup of food scraps along with the other recyclable items already picked up. The plan is to start off slow, Pugh said. If enough residents volunteer to drop off food waste and learn how to do it correctly, without contaminating the organic material, the practice may become more common over the next few years, he said.
Pugh said 18% of Fayetteville’s waste is food. “We need to get people to understand there is an option that we can do with that material other than throw it away,” he said. A study used to devise the recycling plan found 66% of the city’s residential waste could be diverted. Recyclable paper and containers made up the largest portion at 27%, with food waste coming in second at 18% and other potential recyclable and compostable material each making up 10% of the total. The city got a permit from the state in 2017 to process food waste compost. It has composted yard waste for years. Some restaurants, public schools and the University of Arkansas started putting food scraps in containers for the city to pick up.