Beginning October 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, the City of Chattanooga will launch two new recycle pilot programs aimed at reducing landfill waste and promoting responsible recycling. In partnership with NewTerra Composting and Overlooked Materials, the city will offer curbside food waste composting and glass recycling collection to select residents,
with the initial rollout focused primarily in the Brainerd area.
These pilot programs are designed to address two major contributors to landfill waste:
- Food waste, which accounts for almost 25% of landfill content and is the third largest source of methane emissions nationwide.(source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/methane-emissions)
- Glass, 90% of which ends up in landfills, despite being fully recyclable and locally reusable in construction, stormwater management, tile production, and more. The-50-States-of-Recycling-2.pdf
The program’s partners, NewTerra Compost and Overlooked Materials, will play key roles in these pilots and all materials will be processed locally. Food scraps collected through the program will be processed by NewTerra Compost, creating healthy, nutrient-rich soil that can be used by local farms, community gardens, and schools. Overlooked Materials will recycle the glass, converting the glass to sand and gravel which can be used locally. These local uses reduce our need to mine our region’s mountains, create more circular products, and reduce the burden on our landfills…