Nearly a third of all waste that winds up at landfills in Middle Tennessee consists of food scraps and other organic materials that could be composted. That’s according to Zero Waste Program Manager Jenn Harrman, whose team is exploring ways to not only reduce the amount of waste going to landfills, but to find more sustainable solutions for disposing of Nashville’s trash.
Before the end of this year, the city plans to launch a year-long pilot program where households will be able to collect their food scraps and other organic materials throughout the week and then take them to the curb to have them picked up and composted at no cost. “I think we have more and more people in Nashville that want to be more sustainable,” Harrman said. “Anecdotally, the issues with trash as well, and knowing that landfills are filling up, I think folks recognize that we need to do something different.”
According to a resolution adopted at the Metro Council’s last meeting, local landfills are expected to reach capacity in three to five years if additional steps aren’t taken. The resolution was in support of a community-wide target of a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030, which Harrman believes the Food Scraps Pickup Pilot could play a large role in.