San Jose, Calif., is leading an effort to make it easier for cities to handle the growing number of compostable plastics being used by businesses and households.
The city is partnering with Ashville, N.C. , and Gaithersburg, Md., to develop a "toolkit" full of fact sheets, videos and other resources as more municipalities look for ways to manage compostable plastics at curbside collection, compost facilities and recycling centers.
The three cities received a grant from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network to create a compostable plastics toolkit that can be posted on the USDN website by February 2014.
As part of the effort, the cities have an online survey so other municipalities can give input on the program.