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Ann Arbor Accepting Plate Scraps In Compost Carts

Doppstadt Grinder at Ann Arbor's composting facility.
Andrew Cluley
/
89.1 WEMU

Plate scrapings are now being accepted in Ann Arbor composting carts.  The city added the food scraps this year after a study of residential trash found about half of it was food that could be composted.

  

  

According to Solid Waste Coordinator Tom McMurtrie it costs about $27 a ton to send trash to a landfill, compared to about $15 a ton to compost.  McMurtrie says there will be some additional screening necessary before the finished compost can be used.  The city’s grinder will also be used daily to better mix the food scraps with other materials to eliminate odor concerns. 

The city is offering free kitchen composters so residents won’t need to take their plates to the compost cart after every meal.

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— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.

Like many, I first came to this area when I started school at the University of Michigan, then fell in love with the community and haven’t left. After graduating from U of M in the mid 1990’s I interned at WDET for several years, while also working a variety of jobs in Ann Arbor. Then in 1999 I joined the WEMU news team.
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