Nearly half of Stonington, Maine’s garbage is actually recyclable food, yard, and agricultural wastes that are hard to ignore when municipal waste disposal fees are $70K and climbing.
Compostable green waste like leaves, vegetable peels, coffee grinds, seafood shells, chicken bones, and uneaten leftovers from restaurants and households can be broken down to create a nutrient-rich landscape product the town could use or sell.
Stonington is an island town with a population of less than 1,200, and a vacation destination. Its contract with Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC) will be up for renegotiation in 2018, and town leaders are worried about costs, said Evelyn Duncan, city selectman, to Penobscot Bay Press1. Disposal costs could reach $100,000 annually, she said.
Reductions in the town’s waste disposal could also reduce weekly hauling by a truckload each week, saving an additional $10,400 every year, Duncan said.
Composting could be accomplished by sending the green waste stream to an anaerobic digesting site PERC operates, or the town could use an area which may already be approved for composting right at the transfer station. The transfer station could manage five cubic yards of compost per month, Duncan said.
A larger-scale operation would have a greater effect of cost savings, and starting with businesses and schools may be a good way to test a composting solution for the town. Duncan noted that smaller scale solutions, where residents layer food wastes with manure, are also being considered.
The town is studying several cost-saving options now so it will be ready to make a decision when the contract is up. “Without the backing of the taxpayer, it just won’t work,” she said.