Food Waste Recycling is a Team Effort

That includes E.J. Harrison truck drivers, Gold Coast Recycling sorting in Ventura, Agromin and the Mountain View Organic Waste Processing Facility in Oxnard developing end products for sustainable use in farms and gardens.

When you properly bag your food waste, place it in your E.J. Harrison & Sons organics cart and close the lid, you have completed an important first step. But your food waste’s journey is only beginning.

Each step helps move food waste away from the landfill and toward more useful environmental outcomes.

The process begins on residential collection routes.

Harrison drivers empty organics carts into their trucks, where bagged food waste joins yard trimmings, plants, cut grass and branches. Once the trucks are full, drivers take the material to Gold Coast Recycling in Ventura. There, the load is emptied onto the floor and sorted. Equipment and workers help separate trash, green waste and bagged food waste.

Once the bagged food waste is separated from the green waste, it is added to a large roll-off container. When the container is full, it is transported to Agromin’s Mountain View Organic Waste Processing Facility in Oxnard.

At the Mountain View Facility,

food waste is emptied into a hopper and moves through a series of machines and processes. Those systems remove nonfood material and compress the remaining food waste into a clean slurry. That material is then stored in tanks. According to the Trash Flash, much of the material is currently shipped to a wastewater plant, where it can ultimately become renewable natural gas and be pumped into a pipeline. It can also be used for fertilizer production and compost enrichment.

This process shows why proper sorting at home matters. Trash, plastic, pet waste, glass, metal and other contaminants do not belong in the organics cart. Food waste should be securely bagged, while yard waste should be placed loose in the cart.

As your local Ventura County Trash Hauler, E.J. Harrison is proud to support a system that helps reduce methane-producing food waste in landfills and turn discarded material into useful green products.

Learn more about food waste recycling at ejharrison.com/food-waste.

Trash Sorting in Ventura County may not be the most exciting part of the day,

but it is one of the most important things Ventura County residents can do to support recycling, reduce landfill waste and keep local collection systems working efficiently.

At E.J. Harrison & Sons, sorting accuracy matters because every cart affects the larger waste and recycling process. When recyclable materials are placed in the trash cart, they may end up in the landfill instead of being recovered. When trash is placed in the recycling cart, it can slow down sorting and contaminate otherwise recyclable materials. When food waste is placed in the trash instead of being properly bagged and added to the organics cart, it contributes to methane-producing waste in the landfill.

For a Ventura County Trash Hauler serving thousands of customers,

small mistakes can add up quickly. E.J. Harrison collects trash from about 100,000 customers. According to the Trash Flash, Harrison may collect around 250 tons of residential green waste cart material in a day, and several tons of that material may actually be trash. That contamination has to be handled, sorted and removed before the organic material can continue through the proper recycling process.

Proper sorting also matters because landfill space is limited. Ventura County cannot easily create new landfill capacity, which makes it even more important to keep recyclable and organic materials out of the landfill whenever possible. Good intentions are not enough. Residents need to take the extra moment to check what belongs in each cart.

As a reminder,

food waste should be bagged and sealed securely before being placed in the organics cart. Yard waste should be placed loose in the cart. Recyclables should be clean, empty and loose, not placed inside plastic bags. Trash should be reserved for items that cannot be recycled or placed in the organics cart.

If you have not reviewed the guidelines recently, now is a good time. Proper sorting helps improve recycling, supports Food Waste Recycling efforts and keeps Ventura County Trash Service running more effectively for everyone.

Review the latest sorting guidelines at ejharrison.com/guidelines.