A pilot program in Anchorage is accepting fish carcasses for the first time this year. It’s one of several new initiatives at Solid Waste Services that aim to keep organic material and plastics out of the landfill.
The Material Recovery Facility Center is turning organic waste, which includes fish carcasses, food and garden scraps, into compost. The center also accepts plastics marked 1, 2 and 5, like water bottles, clamshells, and hangers.
Kelli Toth is the acting director of Solid Waste Services in Anchorage. Compost can improve soil quality and provide nutrients to plants, so Toth said it’s highly valuable to gardeners.
“It’s just another way of taking food scraps and turning it into something great,” she said.
The compost material was put up for bid, and is trucked to a farm in Palmer.
The center reestablished a woodlot, which was closed in south Anchorage in 2022. It accepts cut trees and branches, and is added to the organic compost. It’s in partnership with the Anchorage Fire Department and aims to promote wildfire mitigation and diversion, Toth said.
Residents throw away about 200,000 pounds of trash a day and there’s less than 40 years of landfill use left, according to Toth. Some lower-48 states transport waste to landfills in other states because of limited landfill space and environmental regulations. But that isn’t an option in Alaska.
Toth said it’s time for residents to take steps in order to lengthen the life of the landfill, and it can be as easy as choosing cardboard over plastic.
“What I’m able to do with the cardboard box is I can use it as a weed blocker, I can add it to my compost. I can reuse it a couple times until it’s ratty, and then use it as compost or a weed blocker, and then it just becomes part of the soil,” said Toth.
Toth said residents contributed around 77 tons of organics to the center in August. SWS hasn’t decided if the program will continue next summer.
The Material Recovery Facility Center is open through October 31.
An earlier version of this story misstated the center accepts plastics 1,2 and 4. It accepts 1,2 and 5.
Ava White reports on economics and hosts the statewide morning news at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at awhite@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8445. Read more about Ava here.
