An estimated 40% of garbage is made up of food waste and compostables – one of the worst offenders in landfills as it can’t decompose properly and emits large quantities of the potent and harmful greenhouse gas, methane.
Landfills produce around a quarter of Canada’s methane emissions, so by diverting food and compostables, we can contribute to reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. We also have the chance to recover valuable resources that went into producing the food, for example as energy or compost.
Metro Vancouver has banned food waste from garbage to reduce its damaging effects in landfills – at SFU, we’re responding by collecting food scraps & compostables as part of the four-stream Zero Waste Stations on campus.