The Oakland Press

Program aims to reduce food waste in landfills

Bacon grease, blackened banana peels and more picked up at the curb

Bacon grease, things that are growing mold in your refrigerat­or, blackened banana peels and more now belong in the yard waste bags or containers placed at the curb each week in Wixom.

The Michigan Department of Environmen­t, Great Lakes and Energy is highlighti­ng Wixom’s program, which debuted the first week of April, as part of its statewide plan to reduce the amount of food waste in landfills.

EGLE says that as food breaks down in a landfill, it releases methane, a key driver of climate change.

Wixom residents are invited to place all kinds of food items — even meat, bones, fats and grease — in their curbside yard waste bags or cans. Residents can also include items like egg shells, coffee grinds and fil- ters, and paper napkins and paper towels, as long as they don’t have cleaning solutions on them.

Not everyone in Wixom is on board with it. The city explained the program on its Facebook page, drawing questions from at least half a dozen residents.

“Perfect, more stink in our subdivisio­ns…. Critters galore already, yep just add more, that’s sensible,” one resident posted.

Others also expressed concern about odor and attracting vermin.

Wixom officials could not be reached for comment.

The city’s Facebook post and a flier sent to residents explained that food scraps, like yard waste, will be composted and used in gardens and city projects.

For more informatio­n, go to https://www. rrrasoc.org/yard-waste/wixom-food-scrapprogr­am/.

Wixom invites nonresiden­ts to try home composting or take their food waste to a local composting farm that accepts food scraps. You can learn more at https://www.rrrasoc. org/yard-waste/composting/.

With more than 2 billion pounds of food

items going into Michigan landfills annually, the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan has set a goal of cutting that in half by 2030.

Because southeast Michigan is the most populated area of the state, addressing food waste in the Detroit area is expected to have a major impact on the state goal.

Hundreds of Michigan residents, “including advocates in environmen­tal justice, public transit, local food, climate action, business, labor, academia, government, and people of all political persuasion­s had input” on the state’s climate plan, according to a post on EGLE’s website. The plan was released in April 2022.

Experts say some waste comes from parts of food items that aren’t intended to be eaten, such as stems or cores in produce. But most waste is from food that was supposed to be consumed but was discarded.

Study underway in Southfield

A Detroit-based nonprofit, Make Food Not Waste, is conducting a study in Southfield on how to divert all of a city’s food waste from landfills. The group is looking at best practices in food waste reduction from around the country. The group says there will be more than one solution, according to city documents.

The group estimates that 46% of Southfield’s food waste comes from residentia­l sources. Another 35% comes from restaurant­s.

The group, which received a grant from EGLE to do the study, plans to present its findings to the city in June and hopes to implement an action plan by early fall.

One method the group promotes for food waste reduction is “upcycling,” or collecting surplus food from farms, grocery stores, restaurant­s and other sources, and using it in kitchens that create meals for the community.

For more informatio­n, go to https://makefoodno­twaste.org/.