City of Madison, WI

05/17/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/17/2022 10:33

Food Scraps Recycling at Eastside Farmer’s Market Begins on June 14, 2022

posted May 17, 2022 - 11:14 am

The City of Madison in partnership with Sustain Dane and Neighborhood Food Solutions is happy to announce the second location for food scraps recycling this summer.

Individuals may take certain allowable food scraps to a designated drop-off booth at the Eastside Farmer's Market beginning on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

This is the second of two drop-off sites for food scraps that will be available at neighborhood farmer's markets.

The first location was the South Madison Farmer's Market that was announced last week.

Details about the Eastside Farmers Market Food Scraps Drop-Off
The market is located at 202 South Ingersoll Street within McPike Park.

Food scraps drop-off will be available from 4:00pm until 7:00pm during the Tuesday evening market.

Food scraps will be accepted every Tuesday starting on June 14, 2022 and ending on September 27, 2022.

What food scraps will be accepted at the market drop-off site?
The food scraps acceptable in this program are the same materials that would be suitable for your backyard.

Coffee grounds, egg shells, raw fruits and vegetables, and other similar scraps.

The program cannot accept meat products, bones, compostable plastics, paper products, grease, or dairy products (including cheese).

Additional details about what can, and cannot, be accepted at the food scraps drop-off site will be announced as we get closer to the start of the food scraps drop-off program.

Where is the other drop-off location?
The South Madison Farmer's Market is located at 1602 South Park Street on the Madison Labor Temple grounds. They will be accepting food scraps on Tuesdays from 2:00pm to 6:00pm from June 14 to September 27, 2022.

You can read more about both drop-off locations at the Streets Division's website.

What changed that allowed food scraps recycling to start again?
The City of Madison received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture for community composting and food waste reduction. The Natural Resource Defense Council also provided additional funding through their Food Matters initiative.

Using those funds, we were able to secure help from Sustain Dane to provide assistance in staffing the food scraps drop-off sites to help control contamination and provide additional materials necessary for the drop-off site to be a success.

The food scraps will be taken to the Neighborhood Food Solutions urban farm for composting to help their soil regeneration efforts and also supporting their mission and programs.

Additional Details
More details about food scraps and other ways you can address this issue at your home or business, please go to the Streets Division's food scraps website, www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps.

Contacts