Recipient Organization
CLEVELAND, CITY OF
601 LAKESIDE AVE RM 115
CLEVELAND,OH 44114
Performing Department
Mayor's Office Sustainability
Non Technical Summary
Cleveland residents are generating a large amount of food waste that ends up in landfills instead of being used. 68,000 tons of food waste is going to landfills - costing the city money for the transportation of heavy waste. As this waste breaks down, it creates gasses that contribute to the greenhouse gas effect and the gradual warming of our climate. This waste takes up extra land and poses potential health risks due to pollution. Cleveland has the opportunity to gain more value from this resource, employ community members, and restore natural systems through improved soil health.?The main approach for this pilot program is to build a robust residential composting program that would serve to reduce Cleveland's food waste and associated financial, environmental and climate costs. This will also serve as an opportunity to educate residents on the benefits of an economy that reduces waste and the benefits to them. There will not be a one-size fits all solution but rather a series of on and off-ramps that invite residents and whole communities to participate in the ways that are most relevant to their lived experience. Through this pilot program, the city will work with the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, an area urban agriculture demonstration farm and community building non-profit, Rid-All Green Partnership and with a contracted composter to lay out a path that has the highest likelihood of success for achieving a Cleveland-centric solution. We believe creating Drop-Off services that creating an equitable workforce development program and building on the City's existing educational programs will be successful. We will establish Community Compost Ambassadors that help educate other residents on proper composting and green jobs where trainees can learn from Rid-All Green Partnership about career opportunities within composting.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The primary goals of the program are:To build a community understanding and culture of valuing food waste diversion and composting as a community benefit through education and resources.Increase diversion of residential food waste by 50%, as measured from current known food waste collection baseline (see chart below) in order to contribute to overall City CAP diversion goals of 30% diversion from landfill by 2030.Increase local workforce trainees to build a pipeline of compost specialists in Cleveland neighborhoods, and Build Momentum for a circular economy.Ensure quality finished compost product with consistency for NOP 5021 compliance in order to set and maintain a standard across the city.Capture the value of food waste and invest it back into the community.
Project Methods
Build a community understanding and culture of valuing food waste diversion and composting as a community benefit through Education and Resources:Drop-off composting facilities physically and visibly demonstrate composting as a community systemEngage residents in composting best practices knowledge building through Compost Ambassadors program conducted by the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, with at least 1 Ambassador trained and active throughout the pilot in each compost drop-off area (17 total). A $1,400 annual stipend will be paid to resident Compost Ambassadors Public awareness campaigns from the cityCalculate and track impact in terms of quantity and quality of public engagement and Ambassador program (Program Coordination and Evaluation)