Springfield Environmental Services launched a new food waste recycling pilot program on Sept. 5, which will allow up to 1,000 households to recycle food scraps at any of Springfield’s three recycling centers.
Rather than uneaten food being sent to the landfill, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, Dish to Dirt will send the food waste to Springfield’s Yardwaste Recycling Center, where it will be turned into “nutrient rich compost,” which will be available for purchase.
“Food waste represents a big problem in the solid waste industry, but I continue to be encouraged by the fact that of all the challenges we face, food waste is one we can all make a significant impact on right in our own kitchens, back yards and at our City facilities,” said Ashley Krug, the marketing development coordinator for Springfield Environmental Services, in a news release. “Composting food scraps allows area residents to turn their waste into a valuable resource instead of rotting in the landfill, generating methane and taking up limited space.”
Food waste makes up about 14 percent of material sent to the city’s Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill, according to the release, with about 42 percent of that from households.
Registered volunteers will receive a 4-gallon bucket, compostable paper liners and an instruction brochure that details acceptable and unacceptable items. The recycling kit will be available for pickup on Sept. 19-21 at the city’s Environmental Resource Center, located at 290 E. Central St., which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dish to Dirt is only available to registered participants for free; up to 1,000 residents can register for the program.
The pilot program officially launches on Sept. 29, and will run through the end of May 2025.
Participants can drop of their food waste at the following locations during the following times:
- Yardwaste Recycling Center, located at 3790 S. Farm Road 119 in Brookline
- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday
- Lone Pine Recycling Center, located at 3020 S. Lone Pine Ave. in Springfield
- 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., only on Saturdays
- Franklin Avenue Recycling Center, located at 731 N. Franklin Ave. in Springfield
- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., only on Saturdays
Food waste can be dropped off in the designated yellow bins at each recycling center, but participants must speak with an attendant first at the Yardwaste Recycling Center.
Environmental Services also plans to offer a commercial branch of the program in late 2023.
Dish to Dirt is being funded by a $286,000 Composting and Food Waste Reduction grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Funding from this grant will allow us to scale up our composting operations and provide the Food Scraps Recycling pilot to residents and businesses for eighteen months,” Krug said in the release. “We expect to get our hands dirty and learn a lot during that time and will continue working toward overall food waste reduction throughout our community.”
In addition to piloting the program, the grant will fund infrastructure at the Yardwaste Recycling Center to “manage compost and mulch processing.”
More information about the program can be found here.
