Despite starting a campaign to keep organic waste out of landfills, California is predicted to fall short of its waste-reduction targets next year because it has been slow to put food recycling systems into place.
California intends to cut methane emissions, a more damaging short-term greenhouse gas than fossil fuels, by turning food scraps and organic waste into compost or biogas.
Organic waste can range from used coffee boxes and orange peels to yard waste and soiled paper products like pizza boxes. Households and businesses are now asked to divide the garbage into separate bins.
It has been challenging to change people’s behavior in such a short period of time, and the outbreak forced communities to put off signing contracts for the transportation of organic waste. Due to a lack of organic material, the largest food waste-to-biogas factory in the United States, situated in Southern California, had to declare for bankruptcy.
The challenge of educating the public about separation rules has caused delays in their implementation, according to Coby Skye, a former deputy director of Los Angeles County Public Works.
Some towns that boosted collection are now overflowing with compost, a sign that additional challenges are ahead as the most populous state in the country advances toward its recycling targets.
Few states have initiatives like California’s, which seeks to reduce the state’s organic waste output to landfills by 75% by the year 2025 compared to 2014 levels, and none of them mandate the recycling of organic materials.
Experts say it would be challenging to achieve that goal in a year.
According to Rachel Machi Wagoner, director of CalRecycle, 75% of communities gather organic waste with the goal of helping others who are lagging behind in lowering emissions.