Courtesy of the city of Upper Arlington
Curbside collection of food waste joins recycling and trash pickups as Upper Arlington’s public service department introduces a new program through a partnership with compost courier service GoZERO.
“If you put a banana peel in your trash, … when it gets to the landfill, it’s not going to break down properly,” says Katy Rees, a performance analyst for the city of Upper Arlington. “You put it in your compost bin and in a couple of months, that’s nutrient rich soil rather than going to the landfill and creating all these horrible gasses that go out into the environment.”
The new curbside pilot program, which Rees says is funded through a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, aims to make composting easier and get more families involved. She says the program is set to run for a period of 18 months, ending September 2023.
“Our first pickup is going to be in April with the first 100 households or so,” she says. “Each month, our goal is to keep adding new houses on.”
Once fully operational, the program aims to provide up to 600 single-family households with curbside food waste pickup,.
Over 500 households have already signed up for the program. However, Rees says applications will continue to be accepted. Those interested in participating are encouraged to sign up by filling out an online application.
“We’ve had an overwhelming number of people sign up already,” she says. “But our goal is to see if we can get everybody involved – at least through the grant period.”
However, the goal of keeping biodegradable materials out of landfills isn’t new. Rees says the city began its composting program with three drop-off locations in May 2018, also in partnership with GoZERO.
These locations – the Municipal Services Center, Amelita Mirolo Barn and Fancyburg Park – allow residents to deposit their food scraps, paper towels or soiled napkins, and other Biodegradable Products Institute certified materials separately from their trash and recycling.
“That food waste is taken to an industrial compost facility where it is turned into compost that can go back into the soil nutrient rich, instead of using mulch or store-bought items or store-bought topsoil,” Rees says.
For more information on how to apply for the curbside pick-up and a list of accepted items for composting, visit the Food Waste Collection Program website.
Read more about Upper Arlington in the latest issue of Tri-Village Magazine.
Chloe McGowan is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at editorial@cityscenecolumbus.com
