Composting Can Help Region Divert 25% Of Waste From Landfill

The state wants to see how much you are composting.

UCDD Solid Waste Planner Lisa Luck said a new state report seeks to find if counties have kept at least a quarter of solid waste out of class-one landfills. She said if residents track their composting, they can help the accuracy of the report.

“The landfills are running out of space,” Luck said. “I believe we only have around 30 landfills left out of over 100, and the landfills are filling up. We have so many people that are moving into Tennessee, there’s not much place that we can put a landfill.”

Luck said food and other organic waste can be composted and are some of the most detrimental types of waste to put in a landfill. She said organic waste in landfills gets covered with dirt and pressed down, removing the oxygen and releasing some 30 percent of all of the harmful methane gas in our atmosphere.

“If you cut grass and collect the grass clippings and spread it around the yard or use it as mulch, you can count that,” Luck said. “You can count the leaves that you rake up as long as you leave them in the yard, or even if they fall and you just leave them, that’s okay to count that.”

Luck said if horse manure is used on a farm or in a garden, 40 pounds per horse can be reported every day. She said keeping all of these materials out of landfills can reduce the warming of the atmosphere. Based on her report from last year, the Upper Cumberland diverted 25 tons of waste from landfills.

“In the scheme of things, 25 tons is not a whole lot when you think about all of the waste that’s generated in the counties, but when you think about it, that’s the amount that was properly taken care of, and diverted from the landfill, and did not turn into methane gas, so every little bit helps,” Luck said. “If we all just do a little bit, it adds up.”

She said as of now, the Upper Cumberland has not diverted anywhere near 25 percent of waste based on her data, so reaching out to her can help raise that number.

Luck said the reports are due at the end of April. You can find out more about how to share your efforts by calling (931) 261-7841.