Pilot compost program reducing landfill haul

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Operators of a new pilot composting program in Jackson are working to divert the food and paper waste that local restaurants, grocery stores and businesses toss into the Big Piney Landfill.

Terra Firma Organics and the Teton Conservation District (TCD), a non-profit government agency, started the program two months ago. Pilot participants include The Blue Lion, Teton Mountain Lodge, Hotel Terra, the Mangy Moose, Journeys School, the Four Seasons and the Jackson Whole Grocer.

Steve Michel, the director of sustainability for the Jackson Whole Grocer, said the store's waste stream has been reduced by about a half since it began participating in the program at its inception.

Terra Firma and the TCD teamed up in 2007 to propose the one-year project to investigate the feasibility of recycling pre-consumer food and paper waste at restaurants. One Percent for the Tetons, which funds programs to encourage local business practices in environmental advocacy, granted the composting program $33,000.
The pilot will end after 100 tons of waste have been collected. In two months, which the program organizers pointed out includes the slow off-season, it has already collected 12 tons. The program expects to hit the 100-ton mark in less than a year.

Currently, Jackson Community Recycling and Terra Firma Organics divert about 32 percent of Teton County's yearly total of 44,000 tons of waste from the landfill, said Randy Williams, the TCD director. Most of the diverted waste - nearly 25 percent - is dimensional lumber, grass clippings, manure, paper and other organic wastes that are shredded and composted at the transfer station by Terra Firma Organics, which then sells it as a variety of byproducts.

"We've made an industry in this community," said Dayne Buk, the owner of Terra Firma Organics. "We can do better if the community wants it."
Buk said he hopes the pilot program will result in a contract with Teton County to begin composting food wastes countywide.

Jeff Hermansky, the country engineer, said the county is pursuing ways to reduce the amount it contributes to the landfill. Teton County is watching the pilot program, but it is still too early to tell if a countywide contract will happen, he said.

If the program goes full scale, Williams thinks that as much as 60 percent of Teton County's total waste could be diverted from the Big Piney Landfill in Sublette County.
The current pilot program is free to participants. If a countywide program is approved, Buk anticipates it could be offered to businesses for about 30 percent of what it costs to haul waste to the landfill. Other area businesses have already expressed interest in participating, Williams said.

Buk and Williams said the environmental benefits from the program are diverse. Withholding organic waste from landfills can significantly reduce toxic leachate and greenhouse gases like methane. Every time a truck doesn't make the 95-mile trip to the Sublette county landfill, the carbon expended is prevented, they said.

According to Williams, putting the waste back into our ecosystem as compost increases nutrient levels, beneficial microbes and water carrying capacity in local soils. Soils damaged by road or pathway construction, which foster invasive and noxious weeds, can be treated with compost and mulch. An even greater reduction of Teton County's carbon footprint occurs when less fuel is used to ship compost and mulch into the county.
With the possibility of an increase in the cost of hauling trash, Michel of the Jackson Whole Grocer said there are economic as well as environmental and community benefits to composting.

"It would be great to see other restaurants and hotels start doing it as well and for it to be the public buzz around town," he said.
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Pilot compost program reducing landfill haul | Planet JH News Article: General Environment

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