Food Waste Recycling Sees Setbacks During Pandemic

Zero-waste initiatives gained momentum in 2019 and early 2020; with more states
and cities supporting composting, enacting organics-to-landfill
bans, and
developing municipal-scale food-waste collection and recycling programs. Though
not a nationwide movement — East and West Coast states are certainly ahead of
other areas in the US — in a Spring 2020 Yale Program on Climate Change
survey, 72 percent of US citizens acknowledge that global warming is happening,
and 78 percent agree that schools should teach about global warming.
Fast-forward almost a year, and much has changed because of the pandemic. 

Setbacks for food waste recycling during COVID

As a result of the pandemic, food-waste recycling programs were halted or
delayed in some cities and towns due to budget constraints, social distancing
requirements, or prioritization of financial and staffing resources. New York
City suspended its curbside food waste recycling through June 2022, citing
budget constraints; the same program in Cambridge, Massachusetts is still
suspended because of social distancing requirements for truck personnel.

Composting continues in California; but LA Compost — a network of
community composters who maintain compost hubs throughout Los Angeles County —
suspended new member additions and closed some collection locations. In
Portland, Oregon, the business food waste collection program that was set to
start in March was delayed until September and then delayed a year, until March
31, 2021. Organizers say it was poor timing to start a new program. The question
is, when will the timing improve?

No nationwide mandate for organics recycling

There is still no nationwide standard for recycling, let alone organics
recycling. The Northeast Recycling Council’s July 2020 state-by-state
recycling report revealed that only 27 states have at least one mandatory
recycling requirement. The most frequent items to be cited for mandatory
recycling are lead-acid batteries (16 states). Leaves must be recycled in seven
states and grass in five. Nationwide, food waste and organics are not even among
the top 12 items that must be recycled.

Another obstacle to increased food waste recycling is a lack of state
infrastructure, according to Luann Meyer, President of the Solid Waste
Association of North America (SWANA) NY Chapter. Meyer says that New York
State, for example, lacks the infrastructure to fully support the commercial
food waste ban and that facilities will need to be built or expanded on to
support the law.

Slow progress continues

Image credit: Vanguard Renewables

The good news is that we have transitioned from emergency mode to a “new normal”
and there have been restarts. In July, Cambridge, Mass. opened five expanded
compost drop-off sites. In September, the NYC Department of Sanitation
restored
$2.8 million to fund community composting. It reopened multiple NYC Compost
Project sites across the boroughs, in addition to some drop-off sites. LA
Compost now accepts new members; and Arlington, Virginia restarted curbside
yard waste service after a four-month hiatus due to staffing issues.

COVID has challenged program execution

As seen in Vermont, municipal waste programs have had to adjust to a shift to
higher levels of residential waste with so many people at home. Coupled with
continued high absenteeism in Atlanta and Philadelphia, lack of
sanitation staff led to service issues and backlogs. While Atlanta continues to
post delays in trash pickups, Philadelphia finally hired temporary workers to
overcome the backlog; however, residential trash is still 25 percent above
normal levels, and mixing of recyclables with regular trash may still occur,
according to a spokesperson. Given that states and municipalities are primarily
focused on maintaining essential solid waste services with minimal disruptions,
and some deal with real budget shortfalls due to the pandemic, recycling ban
implementation and targets for the foreseeable future will surely continue to be
negatively impacted.

Which direction will the climate change conversation take?

COVID will continue to impact consumer
mindsets regarding food waste and its impact on climate change,
but in which direction? Consumers may direct their focus on the immediate need
for food, shelter and health. On the other hand, food waste recycling could be
seen as a benefit to the global good and spur a renewed commitment to
sustainability. Most likely, it will be a combination of the two — depending on
the region of the country and the challenges of the pandemic at the local,
fiscal level.