York Dept. of Public Works will host presenters from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, and the University of Maine Mitchell Center for Sustainable Solutions to share the most up-to-date information on local Maine food recycling initiatives.
To help educate the public and spread the word about these programs, there will be a Food Scrap Diversion Workshop held on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the York Library.
The primary goal of this workshop is to facilitate discussion around potential regional and local food recycling/composting solutions for residents, communities, and businesses. This half-day workshop will introduce the concept of local consolidated food scrap collection and management as an alternative to disposal in our landfills in order to:
- Reduce solid waste disposal costs
- Support local farms and farming
- Protect regional water quality
- Mitigate climate impact
Discussions will focus on developing tools to help communities and businesses promote “higher and better uses” for collected organics along with providing a pathway for successful initiation of food scrap recovery programs. Strategies learned will allow York and surrounding communities to reduce overall waste disposal costs, decrease reliance on disposal in landfills, improve community health and enhance local soil health and vitality.
This workshop is free, open to the public with light refreshments available, but seating is limited. We’re excited to be working with Bagel Basket, who will be helping us make this a zero-waste event. For more information, visit yorkpublicworks.org/workshop.