Nashville Launches Year Long Curbside Compost Program Test

The Metro Nashville area has launched its first-ever food scrap collection program after delivering 750 welcome kits to households around the city.

The Food Scraps Pickup Pilot program aims to reduce the amount of food waste that ends up in local landfills, according to city officials. The pilot program is scheduled to last a year.

“Approximately 1/3 of what Nashville residents throw away in their trash is all food and organic waste that could otherwise be composted,” Jenn Harrman, Waste Services Zero Waste Program Manager, said. “And so that makes this program and this project a really important, significant step and helping us work towards our Nashville Zero Waste goal, which aims to reduce all waste that we send to landfill by 90% by 2050.”

Each household in the program received a curbside bin to set out for weekly collection as well as a countertop container to collect the compostable materials. Materials accepted include organic food waste, paper waste such as solid tissues, paper towels, and pizza boxes, and compostable materials.

“All the material collected from the program is going to go to a local composting facility,” Harrman said. “The compost company will then process that material and turn it into compost that is for the benefit of local farmers, gardeners, and landscapers as well as residents.”

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