Curbs on garbage day are about to get a little more crowded – and green.
The composting and organics recycling program ordinance was approved by City Council yesterday. So think twice before you throw away that moldy bread–there’s now a way to avoid the landfill and contribute to a growing, green industry that can recycle those scraps into nutrient-rich soil.
San Antonio will implement the citywide program in February. Residential customers can contact COSA Solid Waste Management at (210) 207-6428, if interested. The program entails a $3 fee for the large, green composting container, and will make it easier for residents to dispose of yard waste, kitchen scraps, even pizza boxes and keep unnecessary trash from crowded landfills.
Previously published:
The proposed program is the subject of an addendum to the City’s 10-year recycling and resource recovery plan and SA2020 goal of reducing material sent to landfills by 60% by the year 2020. In a B-Session December 5, 2012, Council voted to move that goal five years, to 2025, and adopt curbside composting as another strategy in diverting landfill waste. The proposed changes anticipate an 85% participation rate citywide for green cart recycling by 2025. The ordinance goes before Council Thursday for a final vote.
“I don’t think anybody else in the state has an opt-in subscription curbside organics recycling service like this,” said Nick Galus, senior project manager for Solid Waste at the City of San Antonio.
For the year-long pilot program, San Antonio purchased 30,000 48-gallon plastic green carts to add to the blue and grey ones already used for nonorganic recyclables and trash at a cost of $1.8 million in September 2011. A year-long contract with locally based New Earth, Inc., to turn the organic trash into mulch, compost, and soil mixes added another $195,000 to the tab.
Austin has had a curbside yard waste-only collection program for ten years and recently announced a program similar to San Antonio’s pilot project in early January. The Austin program will include 7,800 households and cost $485,000, according to the Austin American Statesman.
“It (the pilot project) went well,” said Tiffany Edmonds, public relations manager for the City’s Organics Program. “People liked it. We think they’ll want to keep their carts.”
Edmonds said that San Antonio looked at composting initiatives in Seattle, Portland, San Jose and San Francisco for ideas in developing the program. The program roll-out should begin in February, she said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 20 – 35% of landfill content is food scraps and yard waste. SAWS also encourages composting as an alternative to garbage disposals, which compound the system’s problems with aging sewer pipes.
“The basic rule of thumb is solid waste goes to a landfill and liquid waste goes to a wastewater treatment plant,” said Meg Connor, Director of Environmental Services at SAWS, explaining that introducing any type of solid material into sewer lines designed for liquids cause blockages and sewer overflows.
“Organic solids can be readily composted and put to beneficial use,” said Connor. “They don’t need to end up in a landfill or a wastewater treatment plant.”
So what does this mean for San Antonio residents?
Residents who opt in and agree to pay the $3 monthly fee will receive a 48-gallon green cart for weekly pick-up of organic waste. Residents who choose not to participate can continue to dispose of organic waste via trash bins or at-home compost units. In time, waste managers hope that by diverting organic waste, most of which is high volume grass clippings, residents can downsize to a smaller, less expensive cart and save money and landfill space in one swoop. If approved by Council on Thursday, roll-out schedules will be given to homeowners in the ensuing weeks. “We’ll be leaving door hangers sometime in February,” said Edmonds.
What happens to the waste once it’s picked up?
Throughout the pilot program, the organic waste has been hauled to New Earth, a local family owned business employing 50 people at its two locations, one at IH-10 East near Foster Road and another in Conroe. San Antonio organic trash is taken to the 120- acre IH-10 location where trucks drive onto a massive scale, and each load of scraps, yard clippings and other organics are weighed. The City pays New Earth $19.50 per ton for the waste.
After weigh-in, truck drivers dump their loads, which are then spread by a wheel-loader and sorted manually. Removal of plastic bags is one of the most labor intensive parts of the process, said New Earth General Manager John Kalmbach during a recent tour of the facility.
“Sometimes those green carts serve all-in-one for trash collection, especially after a football Sunday when the blue bins fill up,” he said. “People tend to just start using the green cart for everything.” Sorting the nonorganic material from the organic increases labor costs, he said.
Plastic material is then dumped into a City recycling dumpster. When the organic material reaches a certain size, usually after about two months, the pile is ground up by a diesel grinder. The material then sits for two – three months.
As natural processes ferment and decompose the pile, New Earth sprays water on the piles regularly to expedite the process. When the temperature of the pile reaches 150 -160 degrees for at least several weeks, harmful bacteria are obliterated and the waste proceeds with its transformation to compost.
The piles continue to be watered, turned, then screened, with more plastic removal following. Just prior to completion, large chips too big to decompose are separated to be used as mulch. After four-six months, your kitchen scraps and yard waste are transformed into mineral rich compost that is blended with soil, sold as is, or marketed separately as mulch. “Nothing goes to waste, ” said Kalmbach.
“I hope it goes forward. It’s something good,” said David Rodriguez, Texas A&M Agrilfe Extension Agent who oversees the Bexar County Master Gardener program. “If you really break it down dollar-to-dollar and the two standard trash cans can be retrofitted with smaller ones that will save residents money, everybody wins,” he said.
More info on the organics recycling program can be found on the COSA Solid Waste Management FAQ page.
Monika Maeckle writes about gardening, conservation and the Monarch butterfly migration at the Texas Butterfly Ranch. You can reach her at monika@therivardreport.com or follow her on Twitter @monikam.
Honestly we dont have room for any more city-issued bins.
Genius!
I have enjoyed being part of the pilot program and will definitely opt into this service. I’d love to do my own composting, but don’t really have the space, not to mention already having a major raccoon problem…
I’ve been in the test group – it is awesome! Wish we could share in the compost,
The bins are the small size rollers. Don’t know if you can choose different sizes?
We’ve been composting for 25 years and have harvested compost about–three times. Fact is, for home recreational gardeners, the soil yield on home composting is very small, especially for those who are time and space pressed. Keeping all that organic stuff out of the landfill is reason enough to do it, but for $3 a month, am seriously considering dumping the compost bin. — MM
I compost but probably wouldn’t use this service bc I use the compost for my garden. However, the city should try to do this because it can reduce landfill sizes by at least 1:4th
I think this program is a good idea in theory and has potential, but I’m not sure about the logistics. I don’t really have room for three trash cans in my kitchen or three trash bins in my garage. I’d also like to see pick up days consolidated. My trash and recycling get picked up on different days. It will be difficult to get the trash out to the curb on a third day. I’ve lived in other large cities that scheduled both trash and recycling on the same day of the week and it was much easier to manage.
Christine–our compost bin is picked up the same day as the garbage.
Has anyone done a cost benefit analysis including the value of saved landfill space? If the organics program saves the tax payers money in the long run maybe it should be those who opt out that should pay the $3 a month fee.
That would be an interesting analysis. I don’t believe there have been studies specific to San Antonio/Texas … but it seems to me that the benefit of the avoided methane gases that those materials would have expelled in a landfill would be worth even more than the space it saves.
It’s about time.
I was just saying I wish we had a compost program! Yay! I’m opting in!
Yay!! That’s great 🙂
I was in the area where they tested the idea. I plan to return the can because I’m not paying extra for taking the trouble to seperate the garbage further.
It can be a pain, for sure. Did you use the can during the pilot program? Is the cost the only reason you’ll be discontinuing the can/bin?
It was confusing for the rest of the family. I was constantly taking out stuff that didn’t belong. I don’t want to pay extra for my efforts.
I’m sorry it was confusing for your family, it may just take some time getting used to. My kids, 3 and 6, know what gets composted, what gets recycled, and what gets put in the trash. It’s second nature to them, but we’ve been doing it since before they were born. Kids can certainly learn! We likely won’t use the program because we use our compost, despite the small yield. But it’s a great idea! I’d love to see it used for community gardens.
Can we have your can?
I live in Mahncke Park where it was piloted and I love the program. With the recycling bin and composting, I would say we dispose of one very small trash bag per week now. In additon to food waste and yard clippings, you can even put dryer lint, paper towels, pizza boxes, and even popsicle sticks in the composting bid. Since I already have the bin I wonder what I have to do to make sure I’m opted in? It’s well worth the $3. Several months ago they were giving away free compost, made from the organic material collected in the pilot, at the Botanical Garden Center. It was supposed to be one bag per family, but they happily loaded about 5 bags into my trunk.
Yay! Excited for this!!
I just received the green bin a few days ago but as some other people pointed out it’s a little too big considering I have another 2 bins already. Also I do not produce so much food scraps to fill it up in a week. Is there a smaller version? even 1/4 of the size would be fine.