Compost and recycle waste stations added to The Portal at The Container Village

The Portal at The Container Village has had bins for recyclable and compostable materials since the end of last year, and the program has been successful. To build on that effort, larger waste stations are being added on Friday.

“We’ve been working closely with the food vendors at the Container Village, both last year and this year, to help them reduce their use of single use plastics with the goal of having all compostable disposal to go ware offered in that area,” Jenna Deane, Toward Zero Waste manager, told The Bellingham Herald in an interview.

The larger waste stations were created from beer barrels donated by Kulshan Brewing, purveyor of Kulshan Trackside, one of the most popular vendors in The Container Village.

The program was made possible by the Toward Zero Waste Program with Sustainable Connections, and a partnership with the Port of Bellingham. The program received funding to support composting and recycling in public spaces from the Washington State Department of Ecology and the City of Bellingham.

Compost is taken to Green Earth Technology in Lynden, and recycled materials are taken to Lautenbach Recycling, also in Lynden, according to Deane.

The waste receptacles have signage on them to help people identify what trash goes in which bin.

As with any recyclable food container, pizza boxes can be recycled if they are unused, but not after they have had food inside. However, used pizza boxes can be composted, according to Deane. To make this option available for patrons at The Container Village, pizza box stacking bins are being added so the boxes can be easily moved to the compost waste station.

“Once the cardboard is food soiled, it is compostable,” Deane said.