Rhonda Sherman
BioCycle February 2004, Vol. 45, No. 2, p. 46
More municipal solid waste managers are focusing on household organics such as food residuals, food-soiled paper and cardboard, in addition to yard trimmings – to accelerate diversion. A variety of collection strategies are being implemented that use either carts or bags, different sizes of carts, and various collection vehicles.
What collection scheme makes sense for a particular community? “The answer is not uniform,” replies Steven Sherman, president of Applied Compost Consulting, Inc. in Oakland, California. “It depends on what will work for a particular community and its attributes. A fundamental premise is that it is best to build upon a community’s existing infrastructure.” For example, if a local government already offers yard trimmings collection and wants to add food scraps to the program, the approaches to consider depend upon climate and the existing system for picking up yard debris. “In locations with year-round yard trimmings collection, food scraps should be commingled with yard debris in a cart
