Composting helps sequester carbon in soil, so keeping some food waste out of landfills will reduce methane greenhouse gas emissions. The USDA announced new investments in June to support urban agriculture, including $10.2 million in new cooperative agreements to expand community composting and food waste reduction, and $14.2 million in new grants to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects.
While many sustainability studies rank bioenergy above compost due to initial CO2 loss to atmosphere, they fail to include the benefits of compost application as fertilizer that sequesters carbon, creating sinks with plants. Compost as fertilizer is a carbon-negative process that can have long-lasting effects. “A series of experiments done in Northern California shows that one application of compost started a chain reaction of carbon sequestration that will last decades. Therefore, compost and mulch applied to many types of land may be the single greatest weapon in the fight to reduce the effects of climate change.”
Several states are seeing the benefits of compost versus bioenergy, and are likely to lead the way, as other states move to follow California. A recently passed law there will soon stop all organic waste––food and greenery––from going to California landfills. This will greatly reduce emissions of methane gas where implemented. This change will likely not only change the way residents sort trash, but it will also stop food waste from going from restaurants to landfills. From food scraps to fruit trees, all organic trash will have a new use: beneficial compost.
Conclusions
The EPA is taking steps to incorporate bioenergy solutions into landfill management, while supporting efforts to control industrial food waste better. These efforts will reduce food and agriculture sector waste that ends up in landfills, and anything organic in landfills will increasingly create bioenergy. EPA envisions the convergence of these two sectors, with landfills efficiently converting the majority of available feedstocks into bioenergy, and farms utilizing wasted food through composting practices.
Moreover, homeowners and communities engaging in composting can make a significant contribution to reducing methane emissions at the local level. In conclusion, addressing methane emissions requires a multifaceted approach that combines policy, legislation, technology, and sustainable practices in agriculture, energy production, and landfill management to mitigate the impact of this potent greenhouse gas on our climate and environment. Many of these solutions are financially beneficial, producing fertilizer and/or energy. We owe to the planet that created us to take better care of this methane emitted from our waste food.