More than halfway through its first year, Frederick’s residential composting pilot program is looking to expand into more parts of the city and increase access to its services in non-English-speaking communities. The program has added 123 customers since beginning in June, and it is poised to spread from four Neighborhood Advisory Council districts to six in the coming year, said Sustainability Manager Jenny Willoughby.
The pilot already exists for residents in NAC 3, on the north side of the city; NACs 5 and 8, along the city’s Golden Mile area; and NAC 11, which covers parts of Market Street and downtown. Using a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the pilot will expand into two more NACs, although which ones haven’t been determined, Willoughby said.
It will also use half of the money for education and outreach, including partnering with the Asian American Center of Frederick and Centro Hispano to provide translation in NACs where they need to increase participation, she said. Since it began, the pilot has diverted 69,233 pounds of waste, according to information presented at Wednesday’s workshop. Of the four current NACs, the program has the most participants in NAC 11, with 182 NAC 5 was next with 58 participants, followed by NAC 3 with 39, and NAC 8, which got a later start than the others and got its first participants in September, with 8.