Piggly Wiggly, Compost Joe's join forces to 'go green'

From an article by Sharon Roznik in the Fond du Lac Reporter:

Piggly Wiggly is doing its part to lessen the burden on local landfills.

A recent partnership between the Fond du Lac grocery store and a local composting business is turning rotten produce into recycled, saleable material.

Three times a week Compost Joe's Premium Soils & Organics LLC picks up recycling bins full of overripe and rotten produce from Piggly Wiggly on Johnson Street and hauls it to its 88-acre yard-waste site in Van Dyne to begin the process of turning garbage into 100 percent organic compost.

It is the first food composting pilot project in Fond du Lac County, said David Misterek, solid waste management specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

"This is something that we highly promote. If we can recycle or add to the materials we reuse, it's a win-win situation for everyone," he said.

Since the recycling effort began back in June, Piggly Wiggly has donated more than 10,000 pounds of produce waste to the cause.

"That's 10,000 pounds that would have otherwise gone into a landfill," said produce manager Tammy Guelig.