Waste & Recycling

Riveridge is significantly reducing the amount of waste we send to landfills through a combination of sustainable packaging material use, compost practices, and recycling initiatives. Fruits are packaged using reusable crates and returnable plastic containers. Additionally, Riveridge recycles 250,000 pounds of corrugated cardboard per year. These sustainable packaging materials and recycling practices are used by all Riveridge partner farms. Another waste reduction technique used is composting. Orchard prunings are ground up and are then used as compostable material to improve soil tilth and return potash to the soil. In the past, prunings were burned, requiring soil amending to replace lost nutrients. Additionally, we collect leaves and waste apples in packing houses and take them to nearby composting piles. Waste reduction initiatives such as these have reduced Riveridge’s waste output from 12 dumpsters per month to only two dumpsters. And our efforts to find new ways to reduce waste are ongoing.