D.C. has announced a goal to recycle more and launch a curbside composting program in an effort to redirect 80 percent of waste from landfill sites and incinerators, according to a recent WAMU segment.

D.C. has fallen behind nearby suburbs and major cities in recycling rates, but the District is starting to create an action plan. The nation’s capital has an ambitious goal to roll out a curbside composting program in the next five to eight years, according to the report. 

West Coast cities including Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle have begun composting and waste reduction programs, but cities on the opposite side of the country are proving slower in their implementation. However, if D.C.’s plan succeeds, the District could lead the East Coast in reducing city waste. 

D.C. took the first step toward this endeavor by placing food scrap drop-off sites at farmers markets in all eight wards. The Ward 1 site, located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, has become the most popular.

But some residents found it difficult to transport a lot of food scraps to these drop-off sites, the WAMU report says. The proposed curbside composting program would create an easier and more accessible opportunity for residents to reduce food waste.

Brenda Platt, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, is confident that composting will quickly catch on. “Composting is really one of the quickest, most short-term things we can do to slow down climate change, reverse methane emissions, sequester carbon in soil,” she told WAMU. 

Government officials working to make this curbside composting program a reality recognize that it is not an easy feat. Among them is Chris Shorter, the District Director of Public Works. “We are acknowledging that it takes time,” he said. “We are making sure that our residents understand and are on the journey with us.”