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Managing Organics - We Can Do Better!

April 30, 2013

Through NERC's "Best Management Practices for Organics & Debris Management in Rural Towns in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont" we are providing webinars, workshops, resources, and technical assistance. This article is the start of an ongoing blog series about organics management.

Introduction

In 1960, Compost Science, now BioCycle began publication. Its founder, Jerome Goldstein stated in the inaugural issue's editorial: "We are thoroughly convinced that there is a need to conserve this country's as well as the world's natural resources. We believe that converting municipal and industry organic wastes into useful products would be an effective step forward in a long-range conservation program." More than 50 years later, organic materials continue to be undervalued as a resource in this country.

St. Georges Maine

St. George, Maine

Discarding organic materials as waste impacts our environment, energy use, and economy, taking up landfill space and contributing to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Organic materials can instead be turned into viable new products, including mulch, compost, electricity, and fuel, helping to create locally-based green jobs and supporting local and regional economies.

Defining Organics

or•gan•ics

noun

1. Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.

2. Yard and landscape trimmings—leaves, grass clippings, and tree and brush trimmings.

3. Agricultural and land-clearing/forestry debris

4. Manures

5. Food scraps and food processing residues.

6. Non-recyclable/Soiled paper—napkins, paper towels, other paper products.[1]

7. Items manufactured from organics—compostable bags, utensils, plates, cups and bowls made from corn and potato starch, bagasse, PLA and similar materials.

Organics management presents communities with a significant opportunity for cost savings, economic development, and an enhanced local environment. Organic materials continue to be the largest component of municipal solid waste; comprising just over 56% of the materials we send to landfills and incinerators.[2] Around the country, yard trimmings are recycled at just over 57%, while less than 3% of food scraps are currently recovered.[3] This means that 34 million tons of food waste is tossed away by homes and businesses in the U.S. annually.[4]

Organic materials include not only what we dispose in the trash at home or at work, but also organic "wastes" associated with the goods and services we all consume, including agricultural wastes, food processing wastes, and land-clearing debris from construction sites.

Organics management programs that focus on reduction and community-based diversion can be successfully implemented in all communities—whether urban or rural, semi-rural or small town. Success often involves several strategies, including:

  • Implementing a variety of management approaches that are relatively low cost, manageable within existing staffing limitations, and draw upon existing resources.
  • Identifying an organics management system that fosters the importance of the organics management hierarchy, with an emphasis on reducing materials at their source and keeping organics onsite—that is where generated—when possible.
  • Developing a system that meets state requirements and helps the community comply with state waste diversion goals.
  • Implementing collection and organics processing options, as necessary, and that fit within existing waste handling practices.
  • Considering centralized composting—developed locally or regionally through partnerships with farm, regional, or private operations—as a viable organics management option for increased diversion of yard trimmings and food scraps.

Benefits of Organics Management

There are many benefits to managing organics as a valuable resource rather than as waste. These include:

  • Reducing disposal needs and costs.
  • Homeowners, farmers, landscapers, municipalities, and others using compost to enrich soil; providing valuable nutrients, microbes, and soil structure (helping soil to retain moisture and not compact), reducing the need for fertilizers and irrigation.
  • Using organic materials to make compost—a marketable product—may help to stimulate the local economy through job creation and business development.
  • Food scrap composting can lead to reduced waste disposal costs for food waste generators, such as restaurants and grocery stores.
  • Diverting organics from landfill disposal helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Expanding options for organics handling can reduce open burning of yard waste; helping to reduce air pollution impacts and instances of uncontrolled fires.

Next up - Strategies that Support Organics Management Practices.

By Athena Lee Bradley

 

[1] Food soiled paper usually comes from the kitchen and is not appropriate for paper recycling due to its contamination. It includes materials such as stained pizza boxes, uncoated paper cups and plates, used coffee filters, paper food cartons, napkins and paper towels. Food scraps and soiled paper together are often called “source separated organics” (SSO).

[2]Zanolli, Ashley, Sustainable Food Management In Action, BioCycle, March 2012, Vol. 53, No. 3, p. 48.

[3] US EPA, Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States Facts and Figures for 2010.

[4] See Zanolli above.

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