SWACO releases 2021 Community Impact Report

The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO), Grove City, Ohio, has published its annual Community Impact Report providing insights into local disposal trends at the landfill and updates on collaborations with schools, nonprofits, local governments and other organizations to improve recycling and increase food waste diversion opportunities.   

According to the report, there was a 51 percent waste diversion rate, which SWACO says is one of the highest rates in the Midwest.  

“While we still have a way to go in order to reach our goal to divert 75 percent of all waste stream materials from the landfill by 2032, the reported numbers show we continue to make progress,” says Joe Lombardi, executive director for SWACO. “Our region’s progress is a direct result of the tireless efforts of numerous public and private partners working together to create a safer, healthier and greener community.”  

Residential food waste diversion and recycling programs yield big results  

The Central Ohio Food Waste Initiative, a collaborative group focused on food waste prevention and led by SWACO, created the Save More Than Food (SMTF) campaign in 2020 to help cut Central Ohio’s food waste in half by 2030. As part of this program, SWACO received a $60,000 federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study food waste behaviors and the positive benefits public education campaigns like SMTF can have.   

Last year, funding from the grant supported partnerships between SWACO, Upper Arlington, Ohio and The Ohio State University to study the behaviors of hundreds of households before and after receiving food waste reduction, prevention and composting materials. Not only did the residents of Upper Arlington capture and divert 138,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill. The study also documented:  

• 21 percent of households reduced the amount of food waste they created; and   

• 40 percent increase in the use of the city’s food waste drop-off program.  

SWACO has also partnered with 10 local communities to expand the food waste drop-off program and today, 29 percent of Franklin County residents report composting food or yard waste at home, at the curb or through a drop-off program.  

In addition to food waste diversion efforts, SWACO says it has continued to help improve the infrastructure of curbside recycling programs in municipalities across the county. For example, in 2021, SWACO worked with Whitehall, Ohio, to transition homeowners to a volume-based trash and recycling collection program that incentivized households to reduce trash bills by recycling more. The results are impressive:  

• 95 percent participation in the curbside recycling program compared to 26 percent in 2020;  

• 85 percent increase in the amount of material recycled; and  

• 21 percent decrease in trash.  

In Gahanna, Ohio, SWACO partnered with the city to implement Feet on the Street, a national program from The Recycling Partnership which uses a team of community-based observers to visit each resident’s recycling cart to provide tailored feedback on how to improve recycling. As a result, the city saw a 45 percent reduction in the number of items incorrectly placed in Gahanna’s curbside recycling program.  

In 2021, SWACO expanded its Drop-Off Recycling program, adding new drop-off locations at the Whitehall, Winchester, Ohio, and Columbus, Ohio. The program collected one million pounds of recyclables every month. SWACO also piloted new options for recycling at multifamily housing complexes intended to provide greater access to recycling for families living in apartments and condos.  

New resources provide incentives for businesses to recycle  

In 2021, SWACO says it hired staff dedicated to helping Central Ohio businesses, one of the largest generators of landfill materials, improve and expand their recycling programs. This included the piloting of a new incentive program which helped to jump-start recycling at two local businesses:  

• The King Arts Complex used SWACO’s Business Tool Kit to audit its waste stream to better understand the type of waste being generated. Then, with SWACO’s support, purchased recycling containers and installed educational signage detailing what the program accepts. As a result, they now recycle two cubic yards of material each week.  

• Zipline Logistics worked with SWACO to switch from plastic and other nonrecyclable breakroom items to reusable glassware and mugs. SWACO and Zipline are also working to implement a recycling program to capture plastic bottles and metal cans. In the first month of the pilot, Zipline collected one cubic yard of materials, diverting the equivalent of 200 gallons of milk from the landfill.  

Grant programs and dedicated resources help partners reach sustainability goals  

SWACO says it continues to offer a variety of grants to help area schools, universities, local governments and nonprofit organizations reach their sustainability goals. Last year, SWACO awarded more than $264,000 in grants to help partners reach their waste diversion goals. One of the grant programs supported more than a dozen partners and helped divert more than 440,000 pounds of recyclables and compost from the landfill.  

SWACO also offers several other programs for local organizations, like schools, to meet their sustainability goals. In 2021, SWACO partnered with five local schools to provide technical guidance on setting up new or improving existing recycling programs. SWACO provided participating schools with new recycling containers and proper recycling signage to ensure the program’s success and engage students in the recycling activities as part of a school’s green team.   

Safe and responsible waste disposal  

In 2021, SWACO says it handled 49,000 more tons of waste material than in the previous year despite labor shortages faced by industries across the board. SWACO also generated nearly $8.5 million in revenue from the sale of renewable landfill gas, helping reduce emissions and heat 13,000 area homes.  

Next year, SWACO will be joined by BQ Energy, AEP and Columbus to break ground on Columbus Solar Park, a 50-megawatt solar array that will generate enough renewable energy to power more than 5,000 homes when it opens in late 2023.  

View the entire Community Impact Report here.