Municipal Curbside Compostables WHAT WORKS AND WHY? Collection MUNICIPAL CURBSIDE COMPOSTABLES COLLECTION What Works and Why? The Urban Sustainability Assessment (USA) Project: Identifying Effective Urban Sustainability Initiatives Department of Urban Studies and Planning Massachusetts Institute of Technology Pl: Judith A. Layzer (
[email protected]) Citation: Judith A. Layzer and Alexis Schulman. 2014. Primary Researcher: “Municipal Curbside Compostables Collection: What Works and Why?” Alexis Schulman Work product of the Urban Sustainability Assessment (USA) Project, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Team: Yael Borofsky COPYRIGHT © 2014. All rights reserved. Caroline Howe Aditya Nochur Keith Tanner Louise Yeung Design: Gigi McGee Design CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i INTRODUCTION 1 THE CASES 4 THE CONTEXT FOR CURBSIDE COMPOSTABLES COLLECTION 10 DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE CURBSIDE COMPOSTABLES COLLECTION PROGRAM 22 GETTING STARTED 36 CONCLUSIONS 42 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX A: THE BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING 49 APPENDIX B: CASE STUDIES 52 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to the Summit Foundation, Renee Dello, Senior Analyst, Solid Waste Sue Patrolia, Recycling Coordinator, Townships Washington, D.C. for generously funding this Management Services, City of Toronto. of Hamilton and Wenham. project. In addition, for their willingness to speak openly and repeatedly about composting Kevin Drew, Residential Zero Waste Charlotte Pitt, Recycling Program Manager, in their cities, towns, and counties, we would Coordinator, San Francisco Department of Solid Waste Management, Denver Department like to thank the following people: the Environment. of Public Works. Bob Barrows, Waste Policy Coordinator, Dean Elstad, Recycling Coordinator, Department Andy Schneider, Recycling Program Manager, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. of Public Works, City of Minnetonka. Solid Waste Management Division, City of Berkeley.