On June 23, the Mattapoisett Board of Health met with representatives from a company whose business model is the production of compost from food waste. The operation and processes used to create useable compost products were described by Andrew Brousseau and Tom LeClair of Black Earth Compost, founded in 2011 in the City of Gloucester.
Brousseau said that the collection of residential waste, which constitutes about 20 percent of the total volume that goes into landfills or is incinerated is handled on a subscription basis. He said that host cities and towns benefit from having food waste gathered by his company because residents would then be able to receive free compost and discount collection pricing.
Mattapoisett Health Agent Gail Joseph also noted that by taking food waste out of the solid waste stream, solid-waste collection costs would ultimately be lowered in correlation to lowered tonnage.
Brousseau said that in 2011 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection began to limit the amount of food waste that communities were allowed to collect and dispose of either by placement in a landfill or by incineration. He said that by 2030 more restrictions are planned with the goal of trying to eliminate nearly all food waste from the solid-waste stream.
The Black Earth team explained how food scraps are collected for a small weekly fee to subscribers using Black Earth receptacles with instructions on how to maintain sanitary conditions and control odors, street-side receptacle collection, followed by placement of collected food waste into the composting sheds.
Brousseau said that host communities will need to dedicate at least five acres of land for food-waste processing. Joseph said that it is yet to be determined if Black Earth would rent the needed acreage from the town’s transfer station property. In fact, Joseph said that although planning now for future DEP restrictions is important, her June 23 meeting with Black Earth representatives was part of a fact-finding mission.
LeClair said that currently Oxford, Groton and Manchester-By-The-Sea are Black Earth member communities and that the company has been looking to establish processing facilities on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal. He also stated that host-community residential members could pay as little as $2 per week, while non-host communities’ residential members would pay $4 per week, making the case that by being a host community, residents would access free compost and lower processing fees.
Board of Health Chairman Carmelo Nicolosi questioned the number of trucks per week that might be using North Street, a scenic roadway in a residential area, to reach the transfer station if the town decided to host a plant. He cautioned that residents would be displeased by increased truck traffic in the neighborhood.
Brousseau stated that possibly 10 trucks per week would bring food waste from community members and members in other membership communities, saying traffic would be monitored and complaints addressed immediately.
Black Earth representatives also said that residents in a host community could dispose of as much brush and leaves as they wished at no cost, as these materials would be needed for the production of quality compost. Landscape companies, however, would not be allowed to participate. Brousseau said that to begin the process Black Earth would need at least 100 preregistered households.
Nicolosi emphasized that nothing can be or would be done without the consent and approval of the residents and the Select Board. The Board of Health does not have the capacity to incur debt or spend monies without the express approval of the Select Board, he said. Nicolosi added that the transfer station is utilized by a number of other town departments and is planned to host a municipal solar array in the coming months, thus it is unclear if there will be space for a composting operation.
At Nicolosi’s suggestion, a public site visit will take place on Thursday, June 30, at 10:00 am with Black Earth representatives and any members of the community wishing to participate in further discussions. Member Michelle Bernier thought community engagement would be needed to gauge residents’ level of interest.
Joseph reiterated in a follow-up that now is the time for the town to educate itself on the topic of food waste recycling in advance of any statewide mandates. “We’ve already removed mattresses and clothing from the waste stream; this will be the next step, but we aren’t doing anything until everything has been studied and approved. It will take time,” she said.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Health in scheduled for Thursday, June 30, at 10:00 am at the transfer station at the end of Tinkham Hill Road off North Street.
Mattapoisett Board of Health
By Marilou Newell