Communities take different approaches to composting

March 27, 2009

It might be rich in nutrients, but that's where the wealth ends for municipal composting.

For years the province's solid waste commissions have grappled with the issue of composting to reduce the amount of waste headed for landfills.

And while the Northumberland Solid Waste Commission works on a new waste recovery facility for the region, other commissions have composting plans in place.

South West Solid Waste Commission general manager Dan Harrington said they don't collect organic waste for composting and promote backyard composting instead.

"We have not done a lot on composting recently."

Harrington's commission is not alone in staying away from centralized composting, with many other regions saying cost is one of the main factors.

Backyard composting means residents keep their own organic waste out of the landfill and compost it themselves.

Nepisiguit-Chaleur Solid Waste Commission general manager Raymond Bryar said they started backyard composting this year with members of the communities they serve approaching them to request they offer courses.

"Probably it's gonna snowball from there."

The Fredericton Region Solid Waste Commission general manager Gord Wilson said they also support backyard composting because a centralized system can be inefficient and lead to high costs.

He said there is less control over the organic waste that ends up in the compost from residential waste, which can lead to a questionable product.

"It makes no sense to produce a product then put it back in the landfill at the end as daily cover."

But while some areas stay away from centralized composting, there are others that have embraced it.

Fundy Region Solid Waste Commission general manager Marc MacLeod said they produced about 9,000 tons of compost through their voluntary curbside pick-up program for organic waste.

"It's the largest single component of waste diversion there is."

In Kings County, their commission collects garbage under the same wet/dry program used in Moncton, which means residents have to sort organic and non- organic waste.

The commission's executive secretary Karen Chantler said they switched to the wet/dry program in 2001 and send their garbage to transfer stations before trucking it to Moncton.

When they were looking for options, they also considered developing their own facility or connecting with the Saint John facility, but she said they decided to partner with the commission in Moncton.

"It's proven to be more beneficial actually to have made that decision."

Valley Solid Waste Commission is responsible for solid waste management in the Saint John River valley region and also puts their focus on backyard composting, but has been looking at the option of a centralized facility.

Denise Brown, the commission's office administrator, said they contract their landfill service to two other commissions and would either have to build their own facility or contract out the composting.

"At this point we're pretty well just waiting to see what the landfill will do."

One of the landfills they use is the South West commission's site at Hemlock Knoll.

Harrington said his commission serves a small population spread out over a large area and with no communities with population of more than 5,000 people, it's not feasible to do centralized composting.

"Really, the economy of scale isn't there."

Although Bryar's commission also faces a similar issue of serving a large rural area, they are accepting tenders for a feasibility study on recycling and composting, he said.

"We'll see the real cost."

Even in Fredericton where there are more people, Wilson said they had to look at setting up a program that was sustainable because they were spending taxpayers' money.

"I guess I believe you can only spend people's money once."

Despite the costs in Saint John, MacLeod said they subsidize the composting with tipping fees and they have no problem finding people to use the end product because the quality has always been good.

"It's beautiful stuff. We've never been able to not distribute all the compost we've ever made out to the community."

The program has been so successful the commission has started to look at manufacturing soil by mixing it with dead ground to create a value-added product, he said.

"We love the program here."