By Michael McCord
We know how bad methane gas is for trapping heat in out atmosphere. For methane’s first two decades it is 86 times worse than CO2—before it decays back into CO2, which is quite bad enough!
But did you also know that food waste is a major producer of methane gas? According to a new study by Fiorentia Zoi Anglou, Robert Evans Sanders and Ioannis Stamatopoulos, “Food waste produces about half of the greenhouse gas emissions from the global food system, including methane emissions from food waste deposited in landfills. To reduce emissions, some governments have banned food waste disposal in landfills. Anglou et al. evaluated the effectiveness of bans that applied to commercial waste producers in five US states. They found that such policies can succeed, but this has not been the norm. The states with bans showed almost no change in organic waste disposal into landfills compared with controls derived from states without bans. The exception to this was the state of Massachusetts. Simplicity of regulation, sufficient infrastructure, low cost of compliance, and/or strong enforcement may have contributed to Massachusetts’ success.”
The study was published in Science (September 12, 2024) and reported on by WBUR’s Barbara Moran (September 24th). Moran writes, “Food waste produces about half of the greenhouse gas emissions from the global food system, including methane emissions from food waste deposited in landfills.”
The obvious solution? (a) We all need to produce less food waste; and (b) We all need to dispose of our food waste more effectively—through composting.
Happily, if you live in Boston you can compost for FREE provided you live in a building with six units or less. Buildings with seven or more units can arrange for compost pick-up from commercial composting companies.
Take action by contacting Boston’s Curbside Food Waste Collection Program with your questions and concerns. Then get started—knowing that every bit of composting you do will directly reduce green house gas emissions.
Read the research study.
Read the WBUR article.
