Waste as Resources

The City has a variety of projects and services that support sustainability through material reuse, recycling, composting, or prevention.

Food Waste Prevention

The City is partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to further local food waste prevention work.

• It is estimated that 112,000 tons of food is wasted in Albuquerque each ear. Read NRDC's full report: 2023 Estimate of Food Waste and Rescue Potential in Albuquerque.
• NRDC is also in the beginning stages of helping the Sustainability Office incorporate food waste prevention into the Food Scrap Pilot Project.
• Coming soon! Food waste prevention and diversion pilot project for 60 households in central Albuquerque. This pilot is possible in part thanks to funding from NRDC.

Food Donation

Albuquerque Guide to Food Donation for Restaurants and Caterers (en español)

New! Food Waste to Compost Hub

Starting April 7^th, 2025, the City is launching a pilot project to explore using a hub model to collect residential food waste for composting, instead of landfilling. For the first year, the City is piloting one site, McKinley Community Center, and will support up to 60 households. Invitations to participate went out to families that use the community center, the adjacent Palo Duro 50+ Sports & Fitness Center, and the nearby elementary and middle schools.

Coordinated by the Sustainability Office, Little Green Bucket will transport the compostable materials to a certified compost facility, where the materials are turned into finished compost. The Sustainability Office will work with McKinley Community Center staff and youth to divert materials from the community center and teach food waste prevention.

Community Composting Co-op Sites

In the summer of 2023, seven new community compost bins were constructed as part of a Community Compost Pilot project. Two of those bins are at City facilities: Barelas Senior Center and North Valley Senior Center.

Upcoming Community Compost Orientations:

Want to learn more?

• Attend an introduction to composting and tour of the community compost bin: Earth Day, April 22, 10:30-11:30am at the community garden across from the Barelas Senior Center, 714 7th St SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Do you want to become a community compost co-op member? Here are two options this spring:

Option 1: Take the compost science and hands-on portions separately.

• Compost science: Attend the April 5 or April 12 Home Composting Basics class offered by the Master Composters.
• Hands-on learning: Friday, April 25, 2-4pm at Barelas Senior Center’s community compost site. Note: We will plan more hands-on opportunities this summer.

Option 2: Attend the Learning Series at Barelas Senior Center.

• Tuesday, April 22, 10:30-11:30am, Introduction to compost science and hands-on learning. Participants can choose a free plant!
• Tuesday, April 29, 10:30am-noon, Compost science, indoors. Register here.
• Tuesday, May 6, 10:30-11:30am, Hands-on learning.

Currently, we are looking for volunteers to help care for the compost bins, which are accepting items from the senior center kitchens and co-located community gardens. Soon, the bins will be able to accept items from off-site. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Sandra West ([email protected]). Learn more about our community compost sites and how to get involved.

Food Scrap Pilot Project

From July 2023 to June 2024, the City explored food scrap diversion at two different food preparation sites:

• The City’s Senior Affairs CASA Kitchen, which prepares hundreds of meals each day
• Explora’s new concessions, run by Three Sister’s Kitchen.

Coordinated by the Sustainability Office, local hauler Little Green Bucket transported the compostable materials to Soilutions, where the materials are turned into finished compost. Over the year, 7.5 tons of materials were diverted from the two sites. Diversion is still happening at Explora's concessions. When you visit Explora's concessions, use the sorting bins in the concessions seating area to divert your food waste and recyclables from the landfill.

FUSE Executive Fellowship Project: Design an Equity-Focused Citywide Composting Initiative

The City partnered with FUSE Corps to host a fellow, who worked with the City and community to design a citywide, equity focused composting initiative. The 1-year fellowship started in October 2023. Now, we are working on designing a pilot project based on the hub model presented by the fellow (see draft initiative below).

Highlights:

• October 2023 - February 2024: Listening Sessions
  • View the presentation recording from virtual meeting in December.
  • Read the Listening Tour Summary
• February 2024 - May 2024: Program Design
• June 2024 - July 2024: Public Feedback Period for Draft Program Design
  
  • Watch a recording of the presentation.
  • View the presentation slides (1.4 MB PDF).
  • Read the Feedback Tour Summary (0.3 MB PDF).
• July 2024 - October 2024: Finalize Program Design
  • Review a short overview of the initiative (0.6 MB PDF).
  • Read the initiative (0.3 MB PDF).

How much food is wasted? Americans throw away more than 40% of the food supply leading to 119 billion pounds of wasted food annually in the United States. NRDC estimated that 112,000 tons of food are wasted each year in Albuquerque.

Why is reducing food waste important? It...

• Reduces your carbon footprint.
• Saves money. The average family of four loses about $1,500 a year on food that ends up uneaten.
• Saves food.
• Saves water and land.
• Read more about impacts and benefits of reducing food waste.

Act to Prevent Food Waste

There are many easy and quick actions you can take to reduce food waste. Here are key tips and resources to get you started. Pick one and try it. Then choose another, and share your successes with your friends and family.

• Meal Planning Tools.
• Meal plan around ingredients you already have. View more easy tips for meal planning.
• Food Estimator Tool, which lists ingredient quantities down to the ounce.
• Plan Ahead video (en español).

• Online Interactive Food Storage Guide.
• Fall and Winter Produce Storage Guide (en español).
• Spring and Summer Produce Storage Guide (en español).
• The Refrigerator Demystified.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Food Storage Safety Tips.
• USDA's FoodKeeper App for guidance on safe handling, preparation, and storage of foods.
• Freezing and Food Safety.

• Leftovers and Food Safety.
• Before You Toss Food, Wait. Check It Out!
• Love Your Leftovers video (en español).
• Serve Smart video (en español).

• “Best if used by/before,” “Sell by,” and “Freeze by” labels are not expiration dates but rather suggestions for when a product will be best for flavor and quality.
• Deciphering Dates on Products.
• Three things to know about food date labeling.
• USDA's guide to food product dating.

Additional Resources

• View our New Food Waste Prevention Guide with four two-minute solutions for reducing food waste at home. View six more easy solutions in the original Food Waste Prevention Guide.
• Tips to Fight Food Waste Flyer (en español)
• Use EPA's Wasted Food Scale as a guide.
• Here are key tips and resources from the USDA.
• Food waste video story following produce:"The Extraordinary Life of a Strawberry".
• Food Waste Reduction handouts:
  • Top 4 Steps to Prevent Food Waste (en español).
  • More Easy Steps to Prevent Food Waste (en español).
• Zero Waste Holiday Parties.

Composting has many benefits. Diverting items to be composted instead of going to the landfill (1) reduces greenhouse gas emissions (2) and the finished compost helps build healthy local soils. Healthy soils can serve as a storage space for carbon dioxide, better absorb water during rainfall events, and help grow local food or shade trees. Learn more about why and how to compost:

• Introduction to composting video by the USDA (en español).
• How composting combats the climate crisis.
  
• The impacts and benefits of composting from Project Drawdown.
• Composting overview from the EPA.
  

How to Compost?

There are a variety of ways to compost, and the designs and instructions can change based on climate. In our arid climate, the best way to learn is from those who also compost in arid climates. Here are some local resources to get you started:

• Learn how to compost in the desert.
• Learn a variety of ways to compost at home or in your community.
• Learn how to compost an a wide range of scales, with emphasis on land restoration and scalable methods.
• Composting in New Mexico.

Where to Compost?

Compost at Home

Learn a variety of ways to compost at home from the Bernalillo County Extension Master Composters.

Find a Community Compost or Garden

The asset map below shows publicly accessible community compost and garden sites in the Albuquerque metro area. Please click on the pins below to learn more about each site, what they do and how you can get involved.

View the map on a phone, tablet, or in a separate window. Or, view alternative map viewer in a separate window.

This map is made possible thanks to information provide by each site. Please reach out to the site contact for further information. If something needs to be updated on this map, please email Sandra West ([email protected]).

Do you volunteer with or work for a community compost or garden site that is not on this map? Please help us improve this asset map by completing the site addition request form.

Other Ways to Compost in Albuquerque

• The Master Composters maintain a list of places that accept food scraps for composting.

Reusing

There are a variety of ways to reuse or repurpose an item, including clothing donation centers, second-hand exchange or selling platforms, etc.

You can also repurpose your green waste. The City offers a few options to repurpose your green waste:

• Learn more about seasonal green waste collection and year-round drop-off options.
• Tree-cycling, a drop-off service offered in late December through the beginning of January. Details will be posted on the Keep Albuquerque Beautiful webpage and other places.

Recycling

How to Recycle?

Here are a few tools to help you navigate what is accepted in the City's blue roll carts.

• Do you know what goes in the compost versus recycle versus trash? Test your knowledge by playing the Know What to Throw game!
• Check your recycling day and find out what goes in the blue bin on Recycle Coach.

Where to Recycle?

• The City’s Solid Waste Department offers curbside recycling and options for businesses.
• Explore other recycling options in the metro area.

Here are few ideas help you think differently about items that are often wasted:

• Repair items when possible, and buy items designed to be repaired.
• Buy items that will last longer. This often saves money in the long-term.
• Find creative uses for items that would otherwise be though of as trash. Recycle fashion shows are one way to think creatively about items.
• Fully utilize the resources at hand. This can be applied to food preparation, toothpaste, sunscreen, etc. Also, if you have a fruit tree, ask volunteers to help you gather or use the fruit.
• Become a One Albuquerque Volunteer and help efforts to reduce food insecurity, waste, and more!