Hi,
Am searching for programs where Councils offer residents their 'once was' garden waste product from their kerbside collection, back as compost, to residents for free or at a reduced rate. And how was the 'closed loop'link communicated. Was there any a reduction in contamination
Thanks in advance
Daniela Santucci
Cooridinator, Resource Recovery
Bankstown City Council
Australia
Giving Back Yard Waste - For Free
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Interestingly, in Oakland, CA and environs, the compost is sold back. The waste company cannot keep up with demand. Organic waste segregation was widely accepted from inception.
In Virgina, near Washington, DC, there are no similar programs - yet. A city is about to start a pilot to test the potential. Being a fairly large and somewhat diverse country, there is no way to know if the program will have as much success in the East as in CA. There are other confounding factors such as weather. Waste may freeze in the winter, and potentially smell more in the summer. It will be interesting to follow the results.
joe sabel
United States
Hi, Daniela.
Our local Waste Management Authority also does compost giveways.
Flyers are sent to each residence, in addition to having information on the website.
http://www.rethinkwaste.org/residents/beyond-cart/community-events/compost-giveaways
You could contact the staff at the organization directly to find out about changes in waste contamination.
Good luck!
Ora Chaiken
WaterSmart Software
United States
www.watersmartsoftware.com
Hi,
In Lexington KY, households have a container for yard waste that is serviced weekly and the material is taken to the City's composting facilty, where the material gets made into compost or mulch. Then four times a year, on the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of January, April, July and OCtober, we have free mulch give aways events where any resident of the City can come get free mulch, about a pick up truck load of it. These events are very popular, with about 500 - 800 trucks loads or more given away each Saturda, even in on frozen January days.
Esther Moberly
Program Specialist
LFUCG Waste Management
United States
Hi Daniela:
The City of Hamilton (Canada)has offered compost giveaways to residents for many years. Since we're an amalgamated community spanning 1113 sq km with a population of 500,000, we provide six events over three weekends in the spring. These events are very popular with the residents with some lining up well before the gates open.
We normally just advertise on our Website (www.hamilton.ca/waste) and in the local newspapers using simple ads that use headlines such as "Thank you, thank you very mulch" and "Dirt, cheap!".
I should clarify that, like many Canadian municipalities, the source of the compost is from our curbside leaf and yard waste collection. This material is composted in open windrows near our landfill site. Curbside organics (kitchen scraps, etc.) are processed at our composting facility - an anaerobic facility that produces high grade compost which is sold to market.
Philip Homerski
Information & Business Advisor
City of Hamilton Public Works Department
Canada
Hi Daniela-
The City of Newton, MA (USA) also makes available screened compost for our residents. The City has been composting leaf and yard debris since the mid-1980s and starting in the Fall of 2009, we also started processing the material from curbside residential yard waste collections. (Previously, residential curbside collections were brought off-site and the City composted yard waste from City projects). When there is surplus, we also sell this screened compost for commercial use, but we make small quantities available for free for residential use.
We advertise this in our recycling brochure, on our website, and by signs at the Recycling Depot.
http://www.newtonma.gov/dpw/recycling/Composting/compost_bin.htm#compostavailable
Courtney Forrester
Recycling Manager
City of Newton, MA
cforrester
Hi Daniela,
It is fairly commonplace in Canada for municipalities to offer their kerbside-collected compost free of charge to residents. Typically, there is significant demand for it. I have never seen any evidence of contamination reduction as a result, but that is not to say there has not been.
One example in Canada that has done this is Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Corporation (http://www.westmorlandalbert.com/english/index.html. I am not sure if they continue to or not.
Here are some links to some I am less familiar with:
http://www.dufferincounty.on.ca/document_info.aspx?id=2896
http://www.guidingstar.ca/Markham_Spring_Compost_Giveaway.htm
http://www.halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=36015
http://www.durham.ca/news.asp?nr=dnews/2011/apr0511a.htm
http://www.wormcomposting.ca/waterloo-region/waterloo-region-compost-giveaway-may-10th-2008/
http://www.colchester.ca/composting
And for fun, check out this compost give-away by the Seattle Mariners, a professional baseball team. They compost grass clippings and food waste from their stadium and offer it back to fans at home games!
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ken
Ken Donnelly
Vice President, Atlantic Canada
Lura Consulting
Canada
www.beyondattitude.com
Correction!
An astute colleague from a neighbouring municipality noted that in my Aug. 17 post I had indicated that our City of Hamilton composting facility was "anaerobic" and it is, in fact, "aerobic."
I apologise for the error.
Philip Homerski
Information & Business Advisor
City of Hamilton Public Works Department
Canada