About Organic Waste Gases

There are many great advantages to diverting organic waste away from our landfill, like saving space at the facility and increasing its lifespan. But another significant advantage to turning kitchen/food/yard waste into compost is that it significantly decreases the harmful gases caused when these items are left to sit under garbage.

What happens when organic waste is left at the landfill?

When organic waste gets buried under garbage, the lack of oxygen produced results in methane gases. In comparison, when composting organics in an oxygen-rich environment, carbon dioxide gas is created.

How bad is methane gas?

While both carbon dioxide and methane contribute to levels of greenhouse gases, methane is up to 34X more potent because of its ability to effectively absorb heat, which is why it's considered a much larger contributor to climate change.

Let's keep working together!

Now that Port Alberni residents are actively diverting organic waste away from the landfill, we're doing our part for the planet and for our local community by transforming that waste (not garbage!) into nutrient-rich compost that can be re-cycled back into our green spaces.