Composting and Glass Recycling

In partnership with NewTerra Composting and Overlooked Materials, the city will offer curbside food waste composting and glass recycling collection to select residents, with the initial rollout focused primarily in the Brainerd area.

These pilot programs are designed to address two major contributors to landfill waste:

1. Food waste, which accounts for almost 25% of landfill content and is the third largest source of methane emissions nationwide.
    
2. Glass, 90% of which ends up in landfills, despite being fully recyclable and locally reusable in construction, stormwater management, tile production, and more.

Participation in both pilot programs is voluntary and requires sign-up directly through the partner organizations’ websites. Participation is only open to residents. Businesses are not eligible. 

The curbside pilot programs will initially serve residents in the following neighborhoods:

• Zone 1 - [Within Belvoir Neighborhood Area]
• Zone 2  - [Within Brainerd Neighborhood Area]

Participants in the program will receive specific instructions and dedicated containers for separating their food and glass waste upon enrollment. This effort highlights how local solutions and partnerships can have a powerful, positive impact on our community, our economy, and our environment.

The program's partners, NewTerra Compost and Overlooked Materials, will play key roles in these pilots and all materials will be processed locally. Food scraps collected through the program will be processed by NewTerra Compost, creating healthy, nutrient-rich soil that can be used by local farms, community gardens, and schools. Overlooked Materials will recycle the glass, converting the glass to sand and gravel which can be used locally.  These local uses reduce our need to mine our region’s mountains, create more circular products, and reduce the burden on our landfills.

New Terra Compost is a locally owned and operated business, will lead the food waste collection program. The company specializes in turning food scraps into nutrient-rich compost, helping to divert organic material from landfills while enriching local soil. 

The composting program is being funded through a Organics Management grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)’s Division of Solid Waste Management.

Overlooked Materials is a Chattanooga-based recycling and circular products company, will lead the curbside glass recycling program. They specialize in recycling hard-to-process materials like glass and transforming them into useful products.