California tackles food waste with largest recycling program in US

Residents will be required to use green waste bins to dispose of food which municipalities will turn into compost or biogas

California will soon enact the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the US in January, an effort designed to dramatically cut down on organic waste in landfills and reduce the state's methane emissions.

When food scraps such as banana peels and leftover veggies and other organic materials break down they emit methane, a greenhouse gas more potent and damaging in the short-term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Organic material such as food and yard waste makes up a fifth of the state's methane emissions and half of everything in California landfills, according to CalRecycle.