Manteca Starts Food Waste Recycling Program

The City of Manteca is taking a major step to reduce the amount garbage that goes to the dump. The city is beginning a food waste recycling program.

Californians toss out five and a half million tons of food each year according to the state. The City of Manteca is going to be mixing food waste with yard waste and composting it.

Rexie LeStrange heads Manteca's Solid Waste Division. She says by April  businesses and places that generate large amounts of food waste must recycle.

"So we're trying to hit all the schools and restaurants at first and then we'll slowly work our way down to the little guys," says LeStrange.

LeStrange says by next year the plan is to convert that food waste into natural gas.

"Which we will then in turn put into our garbage trucks and be used instead of diesel fuel or gasoline or anything else, so it's like closing the loop, we're picking up food waste for you and running our trucks with it."

LeStrange says the program will save Manteca money and help the city meet state requirements to reduce the volume of garbage going to landfills.