Finished Compost - sometimes called "Black Gold" for its benefits to plants
The County is considering how to advance composting efforts across the county and has released a new report to guide that process. Removing food scraps from the waste stream just makes sense and helps reach the goal of reducing and recycling 70% of our waste county wide by 2020. Some stats to consider from this report:
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21% of Solid Waste going to Landfills from MoCo is food scraps. This waste stream is biodegradable but even things most prone to rot need the right conditions. Food scraps in trash bags under many other trash bags in a landfill tend to 'mummify' and take decades to break down. Food scraps in a well tended compost situation can break down in weeks. Or even days in industrial compost facilites (like this state-of-the-art one in New York state. )
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MCA served on the On- Farm Composting Committee to help advance this strategic plan. Farms are an ideal facility to take on this waste and turn it into a resource. Anyone with a compost bin at home can tell you gross old food plus careful tending in partnership with worms and other creepy crawly helpers yields amazing soil amendments. We look forward to partnering to bring the plans in this report to fruition in a way that balances the needs of the whole community.
While it may take a while to turn these first steps into action county-wide, you can start composting more of your waste at home. And the County DEP even has free bins!
