Nick Lapis's blog

UPDATE: The Governor's veto was overturned in November by the State legislature.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has vetoed HB 569, a bill that would have reversed the state's ban on landfilling yard trimming and would have fundamentally undermined the waste hiearchy by counting yard waste disposal as recycling. Governor Crist's veto comes after several weeks of intense opposition from organizations such as the US Composting Council and Sierra Club Florida, along with pro-recycling advocates from around the country.

Citing a lack of evidence to support the proponents' claims about the environmental benefits of landfilling, Governor Crist said, "Florida is a leader in recycling. I am concerned that this bill will be a step backward in our efforts."  The full veto message is below:

The Florida legislature has passed 2 bills that would repeal a longstanding limitation on the landfilling of yard trimmings and allow landfilled green waste to count as "recycled." The governor has until June 1st to take action on these bills.

According to the US Composting Council, HB 569 and SB 1052:

According to The Oregonian, the City of Portland has announced they will begin a pilot program to collect food scraps from 2000 residences in April. Participants in this program will be required to mix leftover food with yard trimmings, and this material will be collected weekly and taken to one of the regional composting facilities. Removing the materials that rot from the regular trash will allow Portland to reduce the frequency of garbage collection, and it will also help the city shrink its carbon footprint by avoiding potent greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.

Portland's pilot program comes on the heels of several recent successes with food scrap recycling by other West Coast municipalities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland.