Wake County encourages residents to reduce food waste for Food Waste Prevention Week

County is offering composting, recycling tips and training

Throughout this week, Wake County’s Solid Waste and Recycling Division aims to inspire residents to save money and divert more waste, especially food waste, from landfills in recognition of Food Waste Prevention Week.

“Food waste can be easily reduced and doing so offers multiple benefits to residents, including saving them money and preserving the environmental health of our county,” said Wake County Commissioner Shinica Thomas.

The best way for residents to engage with the division during Food Waste Prevention Week is to follow Wake County Waste and Recycling on Facebook, where daily tips are being shared throughout the week. The division also offers continuous support for composting food waste through:

Additionally, since 2004, the Solid Waste and Recycling Division has awarded thousands of dollars annually to organizations through its Waste Reduction Grant Program to incentivize other groups to develop projects that help to divert waste from the county’s landfill. This year three grants were awarded:

• Wakefield High School received $10,000 to develop an on-site program to compost food scraps from the cafeteria.
• El Centro Hispano received $10,000 to implement a workplace recycling program and create a Spanish-language recycling campaign.
• MyMatR, Inc. received $10,000 to build and install customized artificial intelligence-enabled waste receptacles at a public school and coworking space in Raleigh.
   

To learn more about the grant program, visit the Waste Reduction Grants page.