Dane County Launches New Composting Program to Process Food Waste

by Owen Ayite-Atayi, age 17
Food waste is a major concern in the United States. In response, the Dane County Department of Waste & Renewables has partnered with local composting company Purple Cow Organics to launch a county-wide composting initiative, starting June 1st.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), about 30-40 percent of our food supply nationwide is lost to food waste, which is equivalent to about 130 billion pounds of food and $161 billion for growing, processing, preparing, and transporting food. In Dane County, approximately one-third of all material in the Dane County Landfill consists of food waste.
“We operate a County landfill that accepts over 300,000 tons of materials every year. Over 34 percent of all landfilled items in Dane County are organic materials (food, yard waste, etc.),” said Delaney Gobster, Dane County Department of Waste & Renewables business development and outreach coordinator. “It is our largest single waste stream and the majority of that is wasted food.” [Read More]