Food Waste & Composting

Why Food Waste Diversion Matters

The USDA estimates that up to 40 percent of the food supply in the US becomes food waste. In Maine alone, that could be as much as 360,000 tons per year. Keeping organics – food scraps, spoiled food, and other consumables and compostables – out of our waste stream can have a huge impact on our households, communities, and our planet.

Sustainability. Food waste is currently the single most common material landfilled in the U.S., where it becomes a major contributor to methane emissions. Here at ecomaine, damp food waste leads to inefficiency in our waste-to-energy combustion process. And the wasted labor, production, transportation, and handling required to process all of this unused food is a wasteful drain on our resources.

Savings. Food waste is estimated to comprise as much as 30% of household waste by volume – and possibly even more by weight. Diverting food waste from your household trash can translate to big savings in the cost of waste disposal for your household and your municipality.

Security. More than 1 in 10 households in Maine experience food insecurity. Changes to the way we consume food – including thoughtfully donating foods we don’t plan to consume ourselves – can help reduce food insecurity for our friends and neighbors.  

Food Waste to Energy: ecomaine’s Role

ecomaine prioritizes food scrap disposal as a key part of sustainable waste management. Through composting and anaerobic digestion, food scraps are kept out of landfills, conserving space and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. 

In partnership with Agri-Cycle in Exeter, Maine, ecomaine serves as a consolidation point for the Southern Maine region, collecting food waste from grocery stores, institutions, and participating municipalities. Food waste collected at ecomaine is transported to Agri-cycle, where it is de-packaged and anaerobically digested to create renewable energy, farm fertilizer, and cow bedding for a Maine family dairy farm. The packaging removed is returned to ecomaine, where it is incinerated in our waste-to-energy plant.

Steps you Can Take to Reduce Food Waste

ecomaine partners with Agricyle to collect commercial food waste. For residential food waste, consider the options that make sense for you. Even a small change to your household habits can make a big difference.

Smart Shopping, Sharing & Storage

You can reduce food waste in landfills by engaging in more mindful consumption. A few tips from experts who have studied food waste:

Shop your fridge and pantry before the store. Before you start writing your shopping list, take time to inventory what you have available already – especially perishables. Then practice sticking to your shopping list and avoiding impulse buys or bulk sales on items you won’t use.

Store carefully. Be thoughtful about freezing meats before they spoil and breads before they get moldy. Save cleaned out pasta jars and other reusable packaging to store produce and other perishables to keep them fresh longer.

Donate regularly. Don’t wait until food expires or spoils to take it off your shelves. Make food pantry donation a regular practice so you can find new homes for items you don’t plan to use. For open items, consider offering them in your local buy nothing group or texting friends or neighbors to offer them.

Composting at Home

Even with thoughtful reduction, every household will produce some organic waste. Composting at home is one of the easiest ways to keep food scraps and other organics like yard debris out of the trash, and creates a useful byproduct for your yard, garden, or houseplants. Whether in your backyard in a bin, tumbler, or pile; in a worm bin inside; under your sink in a bokashi container; or buried directly in your garden; compost happens and there is no “right” way to do it. Leverage some of the resources below to get to know the basics of home composting and how to create this rich resource for yourself

Curbside Collection

Curbside collection offers a convenient option for households to get the benefits of composting without taking on the work. Some municipalities are even introducing curbside collection of food scraps as part of their waste management strategy. Depending on where you live, curbside collection can also be contracted privately. Here are some of the Maine companies that offer this service: 

• Garbage to Garden (Southern Maine)
• Scrap Dogs (Midcoast)
• Mr. Fox (York County)
• Chickadee Compost (Greater Ellsworth)
• 1 Earth Composting (Bangor, Brewer, Hampden)
• Agri-Cycle Energy (Collection from businesses, schools, and grocers all over Maine)

Local Drop-Off Locations

Your community may have a location where residents can drop-off food waste. Contact your public works department to find out if there’s an option available – or start the conversation about adding this infrastructure to your community!