Green Bay Tests Food Waste Recycling Program

Green Bay is testing a food waste recycling program, in which residents can drop off compostable material at two designated sites in the city.

City residents have already long been able to dispose of yard waste, like leaves and grass clippings.

Mark Walter, who manages business development for the Brown County Port and Resource Recovery Department, said the pilot project began in November. He expects it to keep up to 200 tons of food waste out of the landfill each year, which he said is “a tiny amount of the total waste stream.”

“But again, it’s a demonstration project, a pilot,” said Walter. “If it’s a collection program, somewhere down the line you’re talking a significant amount of waste. The estimates from the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) are that 25 percent of the waste stream is food waste.”

Brown County sends its old food to be used at a bio-digester at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The city of Madison recently ended its curbside pickup of food waste because it was not financially sustainable.