The “Piloting Food Waste Collection in Grand Teton National Park 2018” report has been released by Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling. 2018 marked the second year of the pilot program to collect food waste from Grand Teton National Park and divert material from the landfill. Food waste is targeted for landfill diversion by both GTNP and the surrounding community. The county’s plan includes a goal of diverting 60% of waste from the landfill by the year 2030. Both Teton County and Grand Teton National park intend to capture organic waste material to compost and use as a nutrient rich soil enrichment, rather than landfill waste. The first year of the pilot program proved successful with the collection and composting of 73.3 total tons of food waste. Challenges overcome during the pilot’s inaugural year included the lack of space for bins, and optimization of bin sizes and bag types. The 2018 goals aimed to capture twice the amount of material, expand certain aspects of the collection within the existing concessionaire networks and improve on program education and logistics. Teton County plans to implement a commercial food waste composting program by 2020, upon completion of a landfill closure at the county facility. Currently, no large-scale food waste composting services exist in the vicinity.
