Pleasantville may follow in the footsteps of neighboring village Scarsdale by bringing in a food scrap recycling program.

Earlier this year, Scarsdale launched a a food scrap recycling program in order to reduce the creation of methane, a toxic greenhouse gas that traps carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming. Methane is created when food scraps are left in the landfill, rather than being burned in the incinerator. However, rather than leaving food scraps out in a landfill or burning them, Scarsdale’s food scraps recycling program creates compost. Composting breaks down remnants of food and household items into natural fertilizer that can be put back into the earth for planting or landscaping.

Each day, 2,250 tons of trash are burned at Westchester County’s incinerator located in Peekskill. A food scrap program in Pleasantville would decrease the amount of solid waste burned and allow the community to convert food scraps into compost that could be used to enrich the soil.

The possibility of a food scraps recycling program was brought up at a Village Board meeting. “A voluntary food scraps program seems like a great scheme,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “Really an impressive program, and one I’d like to make available in Pleasantville to folks who are interested in doing it.”