Why Compost?
Creating opportunities for commercial and residential customers to divert waste from the landfill is in line with the City’s environmental goals. Diverting food waste from the landfill can decrease the production of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that is produced when organic materials are landfilled. Plus, keeping organics out of the landfills can help save our limited landfill space while producing a valuable product for farms, gardens and landscape uses.
A key objective of the City’s Climate & Energy Action Plan is to reduce the amount of compostable organic waste that is sent to the landfill. Each year, approximately 40,000 tons of food waste goes into the landfill. Through the City’s food waste programs many tons of food waste are being redirected to compost facilities in our area.
The Love Food Not Waste program supports the City’s Waste Prevention program’s vision to make waste prevention practices the norm in Eugene. To support this vision, the City provides technical assistance and resources to help businesses and residents look at how to:
- Reduce the creation of waste
- Recycle food scraps into compost
- Rescue usable food to feed people or animals