Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn is proposing an expanded Curbside Food Waste Collection Program intended to reduce food waste in the city and limit rodent issues in residential neighborhoods.
“It’s an opportunity for us to address pest control issues, but also improving the environment, [and] providing cleaner and safer neighborhoods,” Flynn said in an interview with The Beacon Hill Times.
Currently, Boston residents waste 130,000 tons of food each year, according to the city’s 2024 Food Recovery Assessment, which explores opportunities to strengthen the food recovery ecosystem in Boston.
Virginie Forget, a Boston representative for Food Rescue US, said a large portion of wasted food comes from residents, not large food-related organizations.
“Food waste is the No. 1 material in our landfills,” Forget said. “Food rotting in the landfills is responsible for a large amount of gas released in the atmosphere, whether it be CO2 or methane.”
Forget said limiting food waste reduces greenhouse gas emissions, conserves usable food products and helps improve food security.
The city’s free Curbside Food Waste Collection, which has been in operation since 2022, allows residents to place their scraps in green bins throughout the neighborhoods. Garbage to Garden Inc. picks up the bins.
Flynn said that the city’s effort is not enough and that more needs to be done to address food waste in Boston, which he said increases the city’s rodent population, damages the environment and causes quality of life headaches for residents.
“I certainly would like to see every family or every apartment or development and unit have composting,’’ Flynn said. “Ultimately, that is my goal, to expand it citywide, where everybody is participating.”
Flynn held a hearing in September that tackled food-waste issues, such as the lack of composting capacity in Boston, increasing pest control, and devising a better pickup system for the green bins.
Forget said that many people are unsure of how to properly dispose of their unwanted food, so they toss them into the trash bins, which rats and other rodents feast on.
“I live in the city, and it only takes a look in the street to see … the trash. It’s not … put in the right bin to protect it from rat infestation,” Forget said.
She added: “If food waste is not handled properly, then you’re basically feeding [the rat] population that we’re all trying to get rid of.”
Flynn said rats in the neighborhoods are “a major problem.”
“Separating food from traditional trash is a way for us to provide healthier neighborhoods and address the pest control crisis we have in the city,” Flynn added.
Nick Scribani, 29, of Beacon Hill, said that while he has not heard of the city food-waste program or seen the “green boxes” on the streets, he said he has noticed a pest problem in Beacon Hill.
“Walking down the street, especially at night … you’ll see a good amount of big rats just roaming the streets,” said Scribani.
This story is part of a partnership between The Beacon Hill Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.
