San Francisco Mandates Composting
Submitted by willow on Fri, 2009-06-26 07:58.
This Fall, San Franciscans could be slapped with a fine for co-mingling cucumber ends, melon rinds and assorted organic waste with other refuse.
On Tuesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposal for "the most comprehensive mandatory composting and recycling law in the country" passed. This mandate is one step closer to realizing the city's goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and sending no waste to landfills or incinerators by 2020.
San Francisco currently diverts 72 percent of its waste. Diverting recyclables and compostables from landfills would boost the city's rate to 90 percent.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports, "The rationale behind the move is clear. Material like food scraps and plant clippings that go into landfills take up costly space and decompose to form methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide."
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