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Waste work group eyes food‑scrap drop‑off, school food‑rescue and grant opportunities
Summary
The commission’s waste work group reviewed a Dane County model for locked food‑scrap drop‑off boxes, partnership plans with UW–Green Bay and Brown County Resource Recovery, deadlines for outreach events (April 29, May 3–9) and monitoring of EPA grant opportunities for food waste reduction.
Members of the commission’s waste work group reported on recent research, partnerships and outreach plans aimed at reducing food waste and expanding composting options.
The work group lead described attending Wisconsin’s integrated resource‑management conference (WERMEC) and highlighted Dane County’s food‑scrap program, which uses locked drop‑off boxes at multiple municipal locations as a component of its system. The lead said the concept is being considered for Green Bay as part of a future proposal to the city and county.
The group is pursuing data and operational collaboration with UW–Green Bay and Brown County Resource Recovery to obtain in‑vessel composting data and historical program figures. The work group also identified a contact at NWTC (Dylan Weist) to represent the college’s sustainable‑ag program and to provide input on cafeteria diversion and institutional partnerships.
Committee members flagged outreach dates for public awareness: Stop Food Waste Day on April 29 and International Compost Awareness Week May 3–9. A member also noted a Midwest Renewable Energy Association webinar on backyard composting scheduled for March 31.
On funding, the work group lead said she is tracking national and state grant opportunities, citing EPA climate pollution‑reduction funding as especially relevant; she contrasted a roughly $200 million award in Minnesota for food‑waste projects with a smaller Wisconsin allocation of about $3 million (not food‑waste‑specific). The group discussed the need for earlier grant planning, local matches and partner roles to make competitive applications feasible.
Next steps: the work group will continue conversations with UW–Green Bay and Brown County, identify local partners for school and institutional diversion efforts, and surface grant opportunities to the commission and city staff for possible future applications.
