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South University Added To Food Waste Collection Pilot Program

John Fischer

The City of Eugene throws away over 40 million pounds of food every year, half of which comes from homes. The south university neighborhood will be joining Eugene’s growing food waste collection pilot program this week.

City waste prevention analyst Allie Breyer outlines what types of waste that can be put in yard debris bins for curbside collection:

“To make quality compost at the end of the food waste recycling process it needs to be free of things like plastic, metal and other nonfood or non-plant materials. This is a little different than other cities. We’re not collecting any paper or compostable plastics at this time. It’s just going to be food that’ll be allowed to be mixed with the yard debris.”

Since the beginning of the pilot last fall nearly 17 million pounds of food waste have been collected and composted. The program will run for two years, and is set to expand beyond the four neighborhoods already enrolled after a year and a half. Throughout the trial the city will be collecting data and feedback in order to refine Eugene’s food waste reduction plan.

 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.