Falls Church officials are considering whether to add composting bins to the Little City鈥檚 trash and recycling program. While leaders hope to reduce the amount of food waste that winds up in the landfill, they acknowledged difficulties that other localities, including Arlington, have faced in implementing such a program.
The challenge: Many people aren鈥檛 currently interested in composting their food scraps, and efforts to encourage them to do so have frequently fallen flat. 鈥淲e鈥檝e kind of hit a ceiling that we鈥檝e been trying to break through for years now,鈥� said Adam Riedel of Arlington鈥檚 Solid 91仓库 Bureau, who on July 9 briefed members of Falls Church鈥檚 solid waste task force.
One of the biggest issues, he said, appears to be psychological in nature. 鈥淭he biggest hurdle we hear from people in the community is referred to as the 鈥榠ck factor鈥� 鈥� there鈥檚 just something inherently icky about food scraps. That鈥檚 particularly true in the summer,鈥� Riedel said.