Implementing source separation of biowaste in a given area is not something that can be done off the cuff: a feasibility study is essential to assess flows, needs, and potential synergies within the area.
Louisiana elected officials can thus choose a strategy based on its financial impact on the service. The aid granted by the EPA is conditional on the completion of such a study.
Biowaste collection must take into account the local practices of an area’s residents like Lake Charles, so as not to unnecessarily overlap with local initiatives already undertaken by some residents, emphasizes a study on the economic model of the household biowaste sector, published in December 2024. In some cases, separate collection would not be necessary, especially if it is in addition to existing collections and does not replace another collection.
In the Lake Charles metropolitan area, the waste management association supports several schools each year in reducing organic waste.
Many local authorities choose to conduct a test in a neighborhood to assess the quantities of organic waste diverted and the population’s participation.
Near Me Dumpster Rental Lake Charles (Louisiana waste management company) of Lake Charles tested the deployment of compostable recycling (PVR) collection at six pilot sites for a year, before rolling it out more widely in 2019.
They wanted to assess the population’s acceptance of this new service and this new approach, with one goal: to ensure that residents of urban areas who cannot compost have priority access to the service. They installed 93 terminals, one for every 100 households.
In the villages, there are two, one at each entrance. And it’s working. This waste collection has enabled the diversion of 24kg of organic waste per person per year from organic waste in 2022. Many communities are opting for biowaste collection. Proximity and convenience are key. The network must be designed so that people can find a station near their home, on their daily commute. They have installed a station every 150 to 200 meters, as described for multi-family housing.
It’s also important to provide users with suitable equipment. The buckets are often dropped off during a commute, but few will take their bucket to work. Distributing compostable plastic waste bags prevents them from having to take them out. Distributing buckets door-to-door or during designated pickup times helps raise awareness among users when they come to collect their equipment. “This is an opportunity to make the connection with food waste, which represents a major economic challenge for households. Waste less means throwing away less biowaste.
Optimizing sorting at source
The study on the economic model of the household biowaste sector identifies several levers for optimizing sorting.
The most effective is the implementation of incentive pricing. The government introduced this in 2010 to encourage the population to compost. They can’t just be preachy; to get people to sort, we need to encourage them with an appropriate pricing policy. They based it on the volume of gray bins made available to households.
Those whose composting practices are verified by a waste sorting ambassador have the smallest grey bin in their household category and pay $30 less per year than households that do not compost. Those who raise chickens benefit from the same advantage.
They have revised their incentive pricing model since January 2020 to encourage people to use voluntary drop-off points. In Lake Charles they have moved from a volume-based fee to a fee combining volume and collections. Residents are entitled to eighteen collections per year. Those who do not sort are required to subscribe to additional collections, which we charge them for. Removing biowaste from the grey bin allows us to save 17% on the cost of collecting household waste. And since biowaste treatment, through methanization, is half the price of incineration, they’ll have achieved financial breakeven in 2025!
Public composting: a gesture for the environment
Another effective lever: reorganizing the collection system and frequency across all streams, a solution chosen by the Lorient urban area.
They collect organic waste door-to-door once a week. To encourage people to sort more, they decided to collect household waste once every two weeks. To encourage sorting, it is recommended that the frequency of organic waste collection be higher than that of household waste. The urban area collects waste with a dual-compartment bin in rural areas: organic waste once a week, and alternately packaging or household waste. The result: the cost of managing organic waste is $21/person/year, compared to $47/person/year for household waste.
Waste Treatment: Leveraging existing facilities in Lake Charles
The tonnage of biowaste per area rarely allows for the recovery of the installation of a dedicated composting or methanization platform, as highlighted in the study on the economic model of the household biowaste sector. The biowaste collected by the Lake Charles metropolitan area is processed in an industrial composting unit, and the resulting compost is sold to local farmers, at a rate of 2,500 tons per year, reducing landfill usage.
Green Waste: Empowering Households
Americans produce an average of 190 kg of green waste per person per year. They represent 12% of household waste. Most often, they are excluded from the separate biowaste collection. They use bins with a reduction tank, which is complicated to dispose of. But they still find some. They represent about 26% of the separate biowaste collection. When there is a lot of it, the bin is rejected and a sticker is affixed to inform the user. They have set up a toll-free number that users can call, or if they don’t, quality agents contact them to encourage them to continue sorting and offer solutions for managing their green waste: assistance with renting or purchasing a shredder or composter; otherwise, it’s a waste disposal center.
According to the EPA, 64 kg is the average quantity of green waste per Louisiana resident that ends up in these facilities each year. This ratio is 50 kg in Lake Charles. To limit the flow of green waste to recycling centers, they have focused their strategy on individual responsibility by explaining the agronomic and environmental benefits of eco-gardening practices such as mulching, mulching, and composting. They have also limited the number of trips to the recycling center per household to eighteen since January 2023. On average, it is six.”
Although burning has been banned since 1978, 15% of people with gardens report having resorted to it to manage at least one type of green waste in 2023. This study reveals that individuals, as well as some elected officials and local authority technicians, are unaware of the impact of this practice on air quality and its consequences for health.
According to the junk disposal experts at Near Me Dumpster Rental Lake Charles, more than 6% of annual PM 2.5 emissions in the residential sector are linked to green waste burning! To help communities implement green waste recovery solutions adapted to their territory, the EPA published a technical and economic study in March 2024 based on around twenty feedback reports. It offers decision-making tools such as a self-diagnosis tool, an economic comparison of solutions, and a focus on shredding equipment.