The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners approved of a pilot program at their January 23rd, meeting to test a new system to divert food waste to a new self contained composting system in an effort to reduce the amount of waste entering the landfill and make the compost available to farmers and other parties for agricultural use. The purpose of the program is to extend the life of the County’s landfill which is currently estimated at 93 years, but could be less due to anticipated growth in the area. Money was included in the budget for this year.
Joe Suleyman, County Environmental Management Director, explained the department had three initiatives they wanted to accomplish this fiscal year including a new mobile household hazardous waste disposal unit that moves to different locations on a weekly basis to collect items such as paint, oil, electronics and other items. The other initiate was to bring recycling services to multi-family apartment complexes that had yet to be served.
Suleyman said, “The third one is a much bigger elephant to take on and it’s about food waste” and, “From the time a farmer plants a seed until we scrape our plates into the trash can in the kitchen, 52% or half of the food that’s generated in this country ends up in the landfill. So it’s a big challenge to take on and quite frankly it’s kind of sickening to see that kind of waste occurring in our society especially when there is so much food insecurity and need out there.”
He explained, “Food waste in the landfill creates several issues for us. An obvious one is it takes up a lot of space. With the finite amount of space we at the landfill and that being a resource, it’s certainly… a waste of that space. Secondly, it directly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. As that food waste decomposes it creates methane gas which is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And lastly, it creates an odor issue. A public health and safety issue.”
Suleyman said, “When we set out this year we wanted to take on food waste once and for all on a small manageable scale to demonstrate to you and the community that there is a way to solve this food waste issue and there is a way to preserve the life of the landfill and taking that resource, putting some value in it and putting it back out there to complete that cycle… adding that back to the farmers so they can create more food and it will take any waste product and put it back into the system again.”
He explained food waste is an untapped resource that can be converted to nutrient-rich compost for use in landscaping and agricultural applications and, “An innovative composting operation at the County’s landfill would leverage state-of-the-art technology to address the long -term impacts of food waste in our community. This pilot program will demonstrate the effectiveness of composting as a key part of a larger solid waste management strategy. The Environmental Management Department selected the in-vessel method of composting versus the traditional static pile method for several reasons. The in-vessel method requires a fraction of the space required, produces finished compost in one third of the time (4 weeks as compared to 90 days), and contains offensive odors and liquid wastes within a sealed system.”
He explained, “Environmental Management Department staff reviewed the Request for Bids (RFB’s) based upon the following criteria: price, warranty, references, experience, production throughput, training, support, and the minimum bid requirements. The two highest-rated products were further evaluated, and prices were adjusted for the addition of equipment options determined by staff as necessary to maximize productivity. Of the two finalists, the lowest and best bid was that of DariTech Inc., with a total cost of $369,884. The amount budgeted for this purchase in fiscal year 2017 was $ 340,000, including $15,000 in grant funds awarded by the State of North Carolina’s Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service. ”
To read the full story, visit http://www.islandgazette.net/news-10/index.php/news/local-news1/item/5668-county-commissioners-approve-funding-for-composting-pilot-program-to-reduce-waste-entering-landfill.