Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection Division of Solid Waste Services Strategic Plan to Advance Composting, Compost Use, and Food Scraps Diversion in Montgomery County, Maryland April 2018 Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Solid Waste Services For information in an alternate format, contact Eileen Kao at (240) 777-6406. Printed on recycled and recyclable paper. April 2018 Dear Friends: Montgomery County is an established leader in protecting and preserving our environment. We continue to improve the quality of our land, air and streams by reducing waste, reusing material and increasing recycling. Our commitment to our integrated waste management strategies increases recycling in the County and improves the overall health of our environment – for ourselves and future generations. Our waste management goal is to reduce waste to the maximum extent possible, and while we have achieved a waste diversion rate of 61 percent, we must do more. I want to bring our waste diversion rate up to 70 percent by the end of 2020. Food waste – or food scraps – is our next frontier material that presents us with another good opportunity to significantly decrease waste, increase the amount of material we recycle, and strive toward our 70-percent goal. The Department of Environmental Protection has developed the Strategic Plan to Advance Composting, Compost Use and Food Scraps Diversion. This plan provides the direction and strategies that will help us reduce the amount of food thrown away, and channel food to those who experience food insecurity. This plan also provides an outline of how to expand our abilities to recycle food scraps more directly at the source, as well as work to secure processing capacity at facilities, so food scraps that are not consumable can be recycled into useful compost. The solution will take a combination of numerous possibilities. I want to thank our partners in the community – individuals, organizations, businesses, and agencies – for their assistance in the development of this plan. Their commitment, expertise and insight have been invaluable. While this plan is a strong foundation, there is more work to be done on these issues. Thank you for your continued support and participation in our efforts. Sincerely, Isiah Leggett County Executive Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................10 Reducing Wasted Food/Channeling Food to Others ........................................................................................12 Background ..................................................................................................................................................12 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................13 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................14 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................16 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................16 In-Home, Backyard, and Community-Scale Composting ................................................................................17 Background ..................................................................................................................................................17 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................18 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................20 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................21 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................21 On-Site Institutional and On-Site Business Composting ................................................................................22 Background ..................................................................................................................................................22 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................22 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................24 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................25 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................25 On-Farm Composting .......................................................................................................................................26 Background ..................................................................................................................................................26 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................26 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................27 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................28 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................28 Composting Capacity to Serve Montgomery County.......................................................................................29 Background ..................................................................................................................................................29 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................31 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................32 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................33 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................34 i Strategies to Maximize Food Scraps Collection at the Curb ..........................................................................35 Background ..................................................................................................................................................35 Assessment of Current Efforts .......................................................................................................................36 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................................36 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................37 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................37 Review of Existing Regulations, Legislation, Requirements, Codes, and Policies ........................................38 Existing Regulations, Legislation, Requirements, Codes, and Policies Applicable to the Six Focus Areas ..............38 Reducing Wasted Food/Channeling Food To Others .........................................................................................41 In-Home, Backyard, and Community-Scale Composting ..................................................................................41 On-Site Institutional and On-Site Business Composting ...................................................................................44 On-Farm Composting ....................................................................................................................................45 Composting Capacity to Serve Montgomery County .........................................................................................46 Strategies to Maximize Food Scraps Collection at the Curb ..............................................................................47 Review of Food Scrap Processing Technologies .............................................................................................48 Open Windrow ..............................................................................................................................................48