Ridgewood Launches Residential Food Recycling Pilot Program

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — A new Ridgewood recycling program isn't looking to collect plastic bottles or broken down boxes. No, they're after your leftovers.

Ridgewood became the first Bergen County municipality to collect food for recycling when the village launched a nine-month pilot program open to 100 households, a news release said.

Participating families have agreed to place their food scraps into a town-issued container and deliver the material to Ridgewood’s recycling center at least once each week. Those families will also provide feedback and data through a weekly survey.

From Ridgewood, the food will make its way to its final destination, Trenton Renewables. This New Jersey company uses anaerobic digestion to turn food into compost and organic fertilizer for local farms, as well as renewable biogas to power the facility, according to the release.

The Recycling Division hopes the program will allow them to better understand the long-term financial and environmental impact that recycling food could have on the community.

"We hope that this is just the beginning, and that Ridgewood will be a leader in fostering environmentally responsible solutions for managing municipal waste," said recycling coordinator Sean Hamlin.

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