Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

3. Yard trimmings and food waste unduly burden the City’s waste collection
operations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that yard trimmings and food
residuals together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. 86
In 2008, the Sanitation Division collected 470 truck loads of yard waste. In 2008, the
Division collected 420 truck loads of leaves. As leaves are nutrient‐rich and good for
improving lawns and gardens, the City’s provision of leaf‐removal services is not only
expensive and fuel intensive, it discourages a change in thinking whereby more residents
think of leaves as food for the soil, rather than “waste.”
While the City has in place a program for picking up yard waste, it does not provide for
compostable food residuals. That's a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become
useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead. 87 Not only does the collection and
transport of such material remove a lot of potential compost, but such organic matter
produces significant greenhouse gas emissions when landfilled.
86 U.S. E.P.A. Wastes ­ Resource Conservation ­ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Composting.
http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/rrr/composting/basic.htm
87 Ibid.
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