Montgomery County’s Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Program reached a milestone of one million pounds of commercial food scraps recycled.
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Partnership Program has achieved the milestone of recycling more than one million pounds of food scraps collected from businesses and organizations since the program started in May 2020.
According to the press release:
“Our Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Partnership Program has been a very successful endeavor that we will continue to expand in Montgomery County,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “I am very appreciative of the outreach of our Department of Environmental Protection and the participation of our business partners. This partnership is key to maximizing waste reduction, adding to our efforts to reuse and recycle to reach the county’s goal of aiming for zero waste by 2035.”
DEP has continued to develop and expand programs designed to increase recycling as the County strives to reduce waste and recycle more, aiming for zero waste. The Commercial Food Scraps Recycling Partnership Program collected the first pound of food scraps on May 28, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 health crisis which has been a very challenging time for food service businesses.
In March 2021, the program surpassed its first significant milestone of recycling more than 200,000 pounds of food scraps. By November of last year, that number had more than tripled to more than 625,000 pounds of commercial food scraps recycled.
This program eliminates barriers to recycling food scraps and converts food waste to usable compost. Approximately 40 businesses and organizations have participated in the program, including schools and school facilities, institutional and business cafeterias, coffee shops, caterers, food rescue organizations and shelters.
