Yard/Food Waste

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Yard and food waste are acceptable items at the Spokane County Transfer Stations and the Waste to Energy (WTE) Facility. See the attached guide for more information on individual items. For more resources/information regarding food waste and reduction, view our food waste reduction resources list.

Food Waste

Did you know that approximately a third of what we throw away in Spokane is food waste? Food waste not only puts stress on our Waste-to-Energy facility, but it also could have been used as a precious compost resource. Here’s some “food” for thought: While the world wastes about 1.4 billion tons of food every year, the United States discards more food than any other country in the world: nearly 40 million tons — 80 billion pounds — every year. That’s like every person in America throwing more than 650 average-sized apples right into the garbage — or rather right into landfills, as most discarded food ends up there. In fact, food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills.

Put food waste in its place!

Food waste prevention starts with you. Follow these recommendations to plan, buy, preserve, and properly dispose of food to reduce waste:

  1. Before going to the grocery store:
  2. Heading to the grocery store
  3. After putting those groceries away:
  4. If you go out to a restaurant to eat:
  5. Before the food turns into waste:
  6. If you do end up with food waste:

Before taking a trip to the store, check out your refrigerator! Cook or eat what you already have at home before buying more. Did you know that there are tools for you to help find recipes based on ingredients/food that you already have in your home? Applications like SuperCook (link for the desktop application or download the application on your smartphone/tablet) will let you add the ingredients you have at home and produce a recipe based on those items. Save money and reduce food waste/trips to the grocery store by using what you already have!

Additional Resources:

For additional information on food waste/disposal options, please visit the Waste Directory.

For more information on home composting or the MC/R program, visit our webpage.

View the Department of Ecology's food waste document.