Oahu residents will soon be allowed to dispose of food waste in their green bins to be composted. The City said it is part of a pilot program to cut down on what goes into the waste stream. The Department of Environmental Services said about 60,000 tons of food waste goes into Oahu鈥檚 landfills every year. They are launching the Green Recycling Organic 黑料网 (GROW) program where residents will be able to dispose of their leftover or spoiled food in their green collection bin to cut back.
鈥淏asically any fruit vegetable cuttings, peelings can go in there. You鈥檝e got rice, grains, breads, bones, meats, fats,鈥� said ENV Recycling Branch chief Henry Gabriel. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want any containers. Whether it鈥檚 metal, glass, plastic. We don鈥檛 want containers. We don鈥檛 want bags.鈥�
Liquids are also not acceptable. Officials suggest bagging and freezing any scraps and then dumping the frozen contents in the green bin on the morning of the pickup day. Six workshops will be hosted before April to help residents with any questions. 鈥淎s long as you come to our workshop, these are the things that we鈥檙e going to teach you, to freeze your food waste, to add baking soda. that way, you鈥檙e avoiding any type of odor or vermin issue,鈥� Gabriel said.