In 2015, Washington state decided to learn what kinds of materials were going into landfills and how much space they took.
What did the results of the study reveal about what Washingtonians were tossing into the trash? The most startling discovery was compostable materials made up 41.7%, or almost half, of landfill materials. It wasn’t just kitchen scraps and pizza boxes, but also branches, trees, leaves and grass clippings.
The state realized if we could cut compostables in landfills by just 50%, we could significantly increase landfill capacity by 20%-25%.
There are a lot of reasons for wanting to deter building new landfills. For starters, it’s difficult to find a site that doesn’t receive harsh community pushback. Health hazards exist for people living near a landfill and, once full, little can be built on it.
More compostable materials in the landfill also means more methane gas, which has 80 times more heat trapping capacity than carbon dioxide. Eliminating compostable materials from landfills is easier than trying to reduce production of other greenhouse gases.
The study also showed a lot of compostable materials could have been donated to food banks if state law didn’t restrict close-dated foods from being redistributed. This brought the state Legislature to pass the Food Waste Reduction Act in 2019, which set the goal to reduce food waste by half and redefined how food “waste” could be given to communities in need. The program proved to be successful.
In June 2022, the state passed HB 1799 to reduce organic waste in landfills by 75% and edible food recovery by 20% before 2030.
The Legislature approved two more bills in 2024 and 2025 that defined thresholds for businesses to comply with the new laws and better implement food waste management.
In Whatcom County, we have a compost processing facility centrally located for convenience. Cascade Compost and Soil is under contract with our trash disposal services, Sanitary Service Co., to take compostable materials and process them into a product that can be sold to offset production costs. Materials would be recycled into yards, gardens, landscaping and parks throughout the county.
Many communities in the county already have compost toter service available for an extra fee. The list of compostable materials is so long you could easily make up the cost as you reduce your waste disposal.
Contact your trash service to request a yard waste toter. If you want to take a more hands-on approach, consider starting a passive compost pile in your backyard or get a worm bin, where worms break down food scraps (up to 10 pounds per week).
I’ll be talking about composting and giving a demonstration on the worm bin from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 13 at Blaine’s Market by the Sea on the G Street Plaza.
Kelle Rankin-Sunter is founder of Blaine CORE, which holds free home and gardening classes at Blaine Public Library. Rankin-Sunter can be reached at fruit@Blaine-CORE.com.
