Soilutions and Whole Foods Team Up to Start Food Scrap Composting

A load of food waste and waxed cardboard delivered by the City of Albuquerque to Soilutions.

On July 10, 2007 Whole Foods Market in Albuquerque, NM began recycling its foodwaste and soiled cardboard with Soilutions, Inc.  Soilutions, a greenwaste recycler and compost manufacturer in the south valley of Albuquerque, has been a high quality composter for over 10 years. They accept material from residents, farmers, landscapers, as well as national and local governmental  identities. After Whole Foods contacted Soilutions, an agreement was reached to accept their pre-consumer cullings from all departments. The City of Albuquerque Solid Waste Department will haul the compostables. All  employees of Whole Foods Market are eager to make the changes in operations necessary for a successful transition from landfilling to composting.

Previously all waste from Whole Foods Market’s Albuquerque store went into a 28 cubic yard compactor. After a quick study, it was determined that almost 90% of the waste was recyclable; 70% of that was organic material suitable for composting. By designating the compactor as “organics only”, Whole Foods Market hopes to reduce their monthly solid waste expense by half while minimizing their carbon footprint. 

To “close the loop”, Whole Foods Market  will sell Soilutions’ bagged compost in the Albuquerque store.

For more information about recycling food waste in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area, contact Soilutions, Inc. at 505-877-0220 or walter@soilutions.net

Taken from the New Mexico Recycling Coalition’s October 2007 Newsletter, Recycling Scraps. To view the entire newsletter click here.