New Facility Brings Composting to Cary Residents

Cary, NC — Composting just got more convenient for Cary residents with today’s opening of a new food waste drop-off station.

The station is located at the Citizen’s Convenience Center at 313 North Dixon Avenue in Downtown Cary and is part of a year-long pilot service. This station will allow the Town to evaluate the community’s receptivity to food waste recycling and the impact it has on the solid waste stream.

Here’s How it Works

Cary is offering a new way for residents to divert household food waste from landfills and return it to the earth as valuable compost through its food waste recycling drop-off pilot, scheduled to open Monday, February 7 at the Citizen’s Convenience Center.

This site, the first of its kind in Cary, will gauge citizen interest and participation in this style of service to reduce food waste in trash and provide data for analysis of the impact on the Town’s solid waste stream and management program.

Cary residents will be able to bring food scraps and other accepted materials directly to the Citizen’s Convenience Center at 313 N. Dixon Ave. in Cary and dispose of them in the designated carts. All material collected is then processed by a local facility and turned into compost, some of which will be returned to the earth at Good Hope Farm, a Compost Now Garden Partner site. This service is open to Cary residents only; commercial interests are not accepted.

“This pilot program is a tremendous opportunity to further engage with and educate the community on more sustainable options for food waste disposal,” said Danna Widmar, Assistant Town Manager. “It also builds on our longstanding commitment to waste reduction and diversion.”

Cary has also partnered with Toward Zero Waste Cary to provide education resources, planned efforts, and events that will support citizens’ participation in the program.

Adding Education to Action

Toward Zero Waste is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting waste-conscious living in North Carolina through inspiration, education, and action.

TZW will help along the way by creating opportunities such as workshops and community engagement events while assisting the Town in monitoring the progress throughout the duration of the pilot. The goal of this partnership is to not only promote the use of the drop-off but also to foster a broader understanding of the value of composting and its role in waste reduction.

The Cary Community Director for Toward Zero Waste, Megan Holler, said the organization is proud to be partnered with the town on such an important project that will “not only remove food waste from the landfill and reduce methane production, but also to serve as a tool for educating residents about the importance of composting, and the nutrient-dense soil this ‘waste’ creates.”

“27% of what Cary residents send to the landfill is food waste. This initiative is one we hope will encourage additional steps to both reduce and recover food waste across our community,” said Holler.

Information on the pilot program, its operation, and accepted materials can be found at townofcary.org/foodwaste.