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Increasing Recycling for Organic Materials

Today’s Reality

Organic materials make up about 30 percent of the municipal solid waste generated by Washington residences, businesses and institutions. The majority of these organic materials – food waste, yard waste, compostable paper, clean wood, and textiles – are now landfilled or incinerated.

Statewide, the recovery of yard debris grew from almost nothing in 1988 to 818,000 tons in 2007. Government focus on waste diversion and procurement of recycled products drives this rapid growth. This growth provides momentum to help recover even greater quantities of organic materials.

Keeping organics out of the landfill reduces greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that’s released during decomposition. Turning organics into compost, bioenergy, biofuels, and other products promotes economic vitality in growing industries, and protects the environment.

Compost used on the soil retains a large volume of water, reduces runoff and erosion, increases nutrient availability for plants, and improves the soil structure. Compost can remove pollutants (heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, oil, grease, and fuel) from stormwater, thus improving downstream water quality. Processing organic materials such as manure, food scraps or woody wastes, through anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, or gasification produces energy and fuels to reduce fossil fuel use, localizes our energy resources, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Goals: What Washington will look like in 30 years (by 2035)

Thirty-year goals for the Organic Materials Initiative:

Robust markets.

There are robust markets for organic-based products in all sectors of the economy. There is demand for high-quality organic products in the marketplace, from soil amendments and recycled consumer goods to green energy sources.

Closed-loop materials management.

Organics collection and processing is optimized. A network of businesses thrives on transforming residual organic materials into beneficial products. Changes in industrial processes and on-site management, such as composting, have reduced the quantity of organic waste. Organic materials are transformed into beneficial products according to highest and best use.

Society supports a sustainable organics cycle.

Full organics recovery and beneficial use are the norms in Washington State. Businesses and governments incorporate full organics recovery into their decisions. Economic and regulatory incentives are aligned to support this system. Recycling and reuse of organics are efficient due to minimal presence of contamination or composite products in the system. People use organic products widely and regularly to improve soil quality in urban, suburban, and agricultural areas.

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