INDIANAPOLIS — It's fall leaf collection time in Indianapolis. Do you know where your leaves go after you set them on the curb?
The curbside leaf pickup runs through December 5. Each week on your scheduled trash date, you can leave up to 40 bags of leaves on the curb to be picked up.
WATCH FULL STORY BELOW
According to the Department of Public Works, which operates the leaf collection program, the program got off to a slow start this week with the snow.
Even without the snow, participation in the program is low.
"Fewer than 50% of households in Marion County participate in the leaf collection program," said Adam Pinsker with DPW.
Pinsker went on to explain that many households have turned to at-home composting, or choose to leave the leaves in the yard or mow over them, which could be why participation in curbside pickup is low.
For those who participate, here's what happens to your leaves after you bag them and put them on the curb.
Trucks that typically collect garbage are designated to bypass normal trash bins and search for the piles of bagged leaves.
Workers scoop up the bags and toss them into the trucks.
Once the trucks are full, they head to South Side Landfill, Marion County's only landfill.
Trucks drive through the landfill to an area designated specifically for leaves.
Here, you'll see a huge pile of plastic bags and leaves. This is where the trucks drop off the new bagged leaves.
Andy Harris, in charge of Governmental Affairs for the landfill, shows what the process looks like from here.
"What we have here is one of our compactors crushing the bags, breaking them open," described Harris.
This process continues throughout the year.
After the bags are broken open, they are run through a trommel.
"It has little hooks that will grab that bags the best it can," continued Harris.
The bags can also sometimes hide litter that residents toss along with their leaves. The plastic bags and the trash are a problem for the landfill.
"Unfortunately, there's just no way of making a pure, clean compost," said Harris.
In the past, the leaves at the landfill decompose. This turns into compost that people could pick up from the landfill.
Because the compost was not clean (it had bits of plastic bags and other trash in it), the landfill made the decision to not compost leaves like it has in the past.
What happens to the decomposing leaves now?
"We cover our landfill every night, and this is one of the end products we can use to help cover our landfill," Harris shared.
Leaves that go to the landfill are re-used, just not to make traditional compost.
This change is confusing to some residents.
One Indianapolis resident posted on Facebook, saying leaves "will be going into the landfill along with the rest of your garbage" and "you might as well just put the leaves in your trash bin."
Here's what DPW thought about that post.
"We would encourage people to keep them in separate bags," Pinsker said of the leaves. "By offering the pickup program and encouraging composting, I think that will lessen the chance that people feel tempted to burn their own leaves or dispose of them in a non-environmental way."
In Marion County, it is illegal to burn leaves.
Harris hopes that in future years, the landfill will be able to make a cleaner compost again, but residents need to keep trash out of leaf bags in order for this to happen.
If you want your leaves to be made into a clean compost, Harris suggests using a company like Greencycle, but know those companies charge you when you drop off your leaves.
If you're interested in composting leaves at home, check out this story for a how-to guide.
