Seattle settles for less

In an effort to get Seattle to recycle 60 percent of its trash by 2012, the mayor has proposed food waste collection. Seattle currently diverts 44 percent of its waste from landfills, and food recycling would help the city reach its goal. San Francisco and Portland, which both separate food waste, have a 69 and 59 percent diversion rates, respectively. 

Food waste collection might just work in Seattle, because the mayor has proposed a system with teeth.

In 2010, the city would begin punishing people in single-family homes who don’t recycle food scraps by not collecting their garbage.

I like the rationale–no recycling, no trash pickup–but the logic is backwards:

The ban would not apply to restaurants or grocery stores, which produce twice as much food waste as residents do.

Why go after the minnows, but not the sharks?