How can food scraps be recycled

MYTH: Compost piles are smelly, attract pests, and take a long time to be ready for reuse. FACT: A properly managed compost pile will not attract pests and can create usable compost in just 6 to 8 weeks.

Food Scraps. What can be recycled? Fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and other food scraps, plus small amounts of soiled paper or cardboard Why it wants to be recycled Recycled food scraps are called compost , and they are a beneficial soil additive, providing nutrients while helping to retain soil moisture in arid climates. How to recycle it Food scraps can be composted right at home. Solar Digesters decompose waste material almost completely, so you will not end up with finished compost that you can use in your garden.

You may be able to purchase a solar digester from your waste district or town. To prevent the spread of diseases, the Agency of Agriculture prohibits feeding pigs food scraps that have touched meat or fish, including their organs, bones, and juices. These regulations do not apply to feeding personal food scraps to pigs that are for personal consumption.

Some food scraps from food manufacturing, such as spent brewery grain and whey, can also be fed to animals. Ask your drop-off facility or hauler what materials they accept. Click on the map to view facilities around the state. To put your name on the contact list for the training, go to Compost Technical Services' website.

For backyard composting training, contact your local waste district or town or sign up for the Vermont Master Composter Course. Menu Vermont Official State Website.

State law bans food scraps from the trash. See our Food Scrap Ban Guidance with requirements for residents, businesses, and haulers. Food that was not finished : "plate scraps" or leftovers that went bad. Any type of food can become scraps--bread, pasta, soup, veggies, fruit, sauces, meat, dairy, sweets, etc. What do I have to do?

Kitchen Tips: Unless you empty your kitchen container every day or two, use a container with a lid. Wash or rinse your container regularly or each time you empty it. To store your food scraps for a while between trips to a drop-off or your pick-up: Keep them in a bag or container in your freezer bread bags work well. Try the bokashi process , which ferments the food scraps so they don't smell.

If you don't mind emptying and cleaning a messier bin, you can simply store scraps in a larger container with a tight lid like a 5-gallon bucket in an out-of-the-way place, like an entryway or garage. To contain odors, you can cover the food scraps with a thin layer of dried, brown leaves or wood shavings each time you empty your kitchen container into the larger container.

Why separate food scraps from the trash? K eeping these materials out of the landfill has a big impact: When it is trapped in a landfill, food waste decomposes slowly, and without oxygen. This process produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas 84 times more powerful than CO2 over a year period. Food scraps contain valuable nutrients that are good for the soil. Finished compost can be used in gardens, farms, and landscaping.

Generating less trash conserves landfill space. Composting puts your waste to work supporting composters, local farmers, and food scrap haulers. Without food scraps in it, garbage is cleaner and less smelly. Stats from the Department of the Environment and Energy show that in —15, 22 per cent of Australian food waste was recycled, mostly through composting, and 16 per cent was used for energy recovery, mainly through methane capture at landfills.

Investing in more biodigestion facilities could further cut down food waste, as well as boost our energy security. Fruits and vegetables have the highest wastage rates of any food products. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that globally, 45 per cent of fruits and vegetables are wasted along the supply chain. But with a little chemistry, biology and engineering know-how, the scrapped by-products can be reprocessed into functional and valuable products.

Researchers are currently investigating how fibres in root vegetables could be used in super-strong concrete and how mango seeds could be used to make surfboard wax. Rice husks are another versatile product because of their silica content and have a variety of applications , such as cement, insulators, adsorbents and various construction materials.

They can also be ground with glass to create lightweight bricks that are resistant to fire and termites. Fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients—and not just the edible bits!

Discarded parts of fruits and veggies such as the peel, pulp and leaves are often rich in bioactive phytochemicals , the chemical compounds produced by plants. These extracts can be used in dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals and food preservatives, which would prevent more food waste.

Extracts and oils derived from food waste can also be used in high-value cosmetics. Researchers are currently investigating the cancer-preventative benefits of citrus peel from oranges, one of the most consumed citrus fruits in Australia.

Second-rate potatoes are another big opportunity.