FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2022
Contact: Zoë Shoats Patrick Mathews
Director of Communications General Manager/CAO
MRWMD Salinas Valley Recycles
(831) 264-6390 (831) 775-3000
[email protected] [email protected]
Food Scraps Now Go in the Green Cart
Composting Gets Easier, Climate Impact Is Reduced
It’s a lot easier being green in the new year. Now, Monterey County residents can put food scraps — including cooked meat and bones, among other kinds — in the green curbside cart, to be composted with their yard trimmings.
With the greater convenience comes a big reduction in harm to the climate. When food scraps go into the landfill, they break down and produce methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. But when the scraps go into the green cart, they end up as valuable compost instead.
Facilities at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District, north of Marina, have been composting food scraps for restaurants and other businesses for nearly a decade. The District currently composts more than 30,000 tons of organic material each year; that number is expected to rise with the addition of residential food scraps.
In the Salinas Valley, a new state-of-the-art Aerated Static Pile Composting Facility located at the Johnson Canyon Landfill just outside of Gonzales, accepts food scraps and yard waste for composting.
Last year the facility diverted over 45,000 tons of organics and is permitted to compost up to 75,000 tons per year.
“This is the biggest change the waste industry has seen since recycling over 30 years ago,” says Zoë Shoats, director of communications, at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District. “It’s an easy and impactful action every person can make to affect climate change.” That means that starting now, nearly all kinds of food scraps except liquids and raw meat can go into the green cart for curbside pickup:
• Cooked meat, fish, bones, and shells
• Cheese and other solid dairy products
• Bread, pasta, pastry, and other grains
• Coffee grounds
• Fruits and vegetables.
All food scraps must be unpackaged. No metal, wire, glass, plastic, paper or cardboard should be included because of health and safety risks. Just food scraps. “We want the public to understand that this change requires only a change to where their food scraps go, into their green cart instead of their trash cart,” says Shoats.
Free kitchen compost pails are available to residents while supplies last at designated city and county offices and from the local curbside service providers: GreenWaste Recovery, Waste Management/King City Disposal, Monterey City Disposal Service, Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling, and Republic Services of Salinas. Each pail comes with a label showing what can go in.
Tips are also available within seconds via the What Goes Where mobile app or at WhatGoesWhere.info.
The curbside services offer help at the following phone numbers and websites:
• GreenWaste Recovery: 831-920-6707 / greenwaste.com
• Monterey City Disposal Service: 831-372-7977 / montereydisposal.com • Waste Management: 800-321-8226 / montereycounty.wm.com. • Republic Services of Salinas: 831-775-3840 / republicservices.com/municipality/salinas-ca • Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling: (888) 678-6798 / tri-citiesdisposal.com • Waste Management/King City Disposal: (831) 385-5694 / wm.com/us/local/ca/kingcity/business Curbside food scrap collection is a collaborative effort to meet the requirements of California’s climate law SB 1383. That law requires jurisdictions to provide expanded organic waste collection services to residences and businesses.
Working together locally to fulfill that commitment are the Monterey Regional Waste Management District; Salinas Valley Recycles, the cities of Carmel- by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzales, Greenfield, King, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Sand City, Seaside, and Soledad; Monterey County; Pebble Beach Community Services District; GreenWaste Recovery, Waste Management, Republic Services, Monterey City Disposal Service, and Tri-Cities Disposal and Recycling; and commercial composters Keith Day Company and Vision Recycling.
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Additional Information
More about the Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD): MRWMD is located just north of Marina at 14201 Del Monte Blvd., Monterey County, CA 93933-1670, serving a population of approximately 170,000 in 853 square miles, including the cities of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Seaside, and the unincorporated areas of Big Sur, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Corral De Tierra, Laguna Seca, Moss Landing, Pebble Beach, San Benancio, and Toro Park. Call 831-384-5313 for information or visit www.mrwmd.org
More about Salinas Valley Recycles: The Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, a.k.a. Salinas Valley Recycles (SVR), is a joint powers agency made up of the following local governments: Monterey County (eastern half of the unincorporated county), and the cities of Gonzales, Greenfield, King City, Salinas, and Soledad. Vision Recycling operates the composting facility and the garbage and recycling haulers that serve the Salinas Valley customers include, Waste Management, Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling, and Republic Services of Salinas.