A food scrap recycling program just getting underway in Kingston could eventually save the city thousands of dollars while reducing its carbon footprint. But city officials say they need to gauge public interest in the program before deciding next steps in the plan.

Each year, city residents and businesses throw out thousands of tons of food scraps, from the remnants of family dinners scraped into a trash can to loads of soon-to-spoil meat and produce from grocery stores. The waste mingles with household trash before city packer trucks haul it to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency’s transfer station in the town of Ulster. From there, it’s shipped more than 200 miles away to the Seneca Meadows landfill in central New York. Each ton of municipal trash carted from UCRRA costs city taxpayers $110, while each mile on the route to Seneca Meadows contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. So, for City Sustainability Programs Coordinator Julie Noble, diverting food scraps from the distant landfill to UCRRA’s own composting operation just a few miles from city hall — which accepts food scraps for just $20 per ton — makes both economic and environmental sense.

“We know there are an incredible amount of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping our waste hundreds of miles away every day,” said Noble. “If we can extract food scraps… the shipping emissions and cost are essentially eliminated.”

The city took the first steps towards that goal earlier this month when Noble’s sustainability office began signing up city residents for a voluntary food scrap drop off program. Participants will get an information packet and a code that will unlock one of 11 storage sheds located in city parks where they can deposit their food scraps (Another eight storage containers will be installed in municipal buildings for use by employees). Noble said that the restricted access was necessary to prevent non-program-participants from inadvertently contaminating the food waste with items that could cause UCRRA’s composting operation to reject it. So far, Noble said, 70 families representing 170 city residents had signed onto the program. Meanwhile all city residents received a flyer in the mail over the weekend touting the program. Noble said the initial goal was to enroll at least 250 households in the program.

But Noble said she hopes the drop-off program will be just the first step towards an ultimate goal of curbside pickup of food scraps. In that scenario, every city household that requests one would be given a food scrap recycling container that could be put out alongside trash and recyclables for regular pickup. Along with expanding food scrap recycling for curbside service, future plans call for opening the program to the commercial sector. But Noble said that curbside pickup is still just a concept. To make it a reality would require grant funding, potentially the purchase of new equipment and hiring of new staff, and, most critically, a large-scale public buy-in. Noble said the drop off program would serve as an experiment of sorts to gauge resident’s interest in food scrap recycling and determine how it will fit in to the city’s existing waste disposal protocols.

Currently a grant through the state Department of Environmental Conservation funds 50% of the nascent food scrap disposal program. Going forward, Noble said the city would seek out additional grant opportunities to offset costs as the program expands to more households and businesses.

“We are doing this with no additional costs to the homeowner or any user and without raising taxes,” said Noble. “So this is an additional service that is being provided with the existing general fund that we have and that’s the plan going forward.”

For more information or to sign up for the municipal food scrap recycling program, go to engagekingston.com.