WIXOM, Mich. — The city of Wixom has a new pilot program in place to recycle food scraps. Instead of residents throwing out food waste with the rest of their trash, they can now place it with their yard waste to be collected and composted.
Wixom resident Byron Kraynak says he put out his weekly Wednesday yard waste at 7 a.m. that day. As of 7 p.m., it still sat there near his front yard. He says with this recently implemented pilot program, that delay would be a lot smellier.
"That should be gone right now," he said pointing to his bags of yard waste.
Wixom is becoming one of just a few cities in the state of Michigan and the first in Oakland County to begin collecting food scraps separate from regular trash in brown lawn bags. The goal is to keep food scraps out of landfills and reduce methane production.
"What this is, is an opportunity for residents to take their kitchen scraps that they generate every day and put them in with their yard waste, so they can get composted," said Mike Csapo, the general manager of Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County.
The city launched the pilot program in partnership with the RRRSOC, GFL Environmental Inc. and Spurt Industries.
Things that can be composted include fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells and more. These items will go in with typical yard waste.
"So, there's no additional transportation costs, no additional tailpipe emissions," Csapo said.
However, Wixom has its fair share of wildlife, and residents worry that the thin brown paper bags full of food out in the open will invite unwanted visitors.
"My biggest hesitation is animals. This is still a wild place. I mean, I have deer that come up to my deck," Kraynak said.
Wixom Department of Public Works Director Tim Sikma says animals shouldn’t be a problem because these were things that were already out with the trash just in different containers.
"They're already putting those same materials out into the trash on a regular weekly basis and we do not anticipate that becoming a problem with a different means of disposal," he said.
The city and the RRRSOC say if the brown lawn bags are a concern, residents can use solid trash bins labeled "yard waste" or "compost" for the scraps.
"Whatever receptacle you use, a bag or a can labeled, and it'll get collected by the yard waste truck as opposed to the trash truck," Csapo said. "We're hoping that this works really well in Wixom and we can begin to deploy it in other communities nearby."
Residents can leave feedback about the program with the city or with the RRRSOC.
You can find a full list of what can be composted and what should not on RRRSOC's website.
