LYNNFIELD — Department of Public Works Director John Tomasz and members of the town’s Recycling Committee are ramping up efforts to jumpstart resident participation in composting.
Tomasz said the department expects to receive 30 to 40 13-gallon composting kits from Black Earth Compost, LLC to distribute to a limited number of residents free of charge. The initiative has been funded by a $1,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).
This is the second year the program has been offered to Lynnfield residents. The town’s commitment to organic composting began in July 2021 with a MassDEP grant to begin a program. Funds were spent on community-outreach efforts, including the free distribution of a number of backyard compost tumblers and numerous 13-gallon compost kits from Black Earth; this was aimed at allowing residents the option of either composting in their yards or collecting compostable kitchen scraps for weekly pickup by Black Earth.
Black Earth’s mission is dedicated to collecting food scraps from residents, schools, supermarkets, colleges, and more, across eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The company composts the material and then returns it to customers and sells it to garden centers across Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Those who sign on with Black Earth will be entered into a drawing to receive a free tree that Tomasz says will be planted in their front yard.
Black Earth Chief Executive Officer Conor Miller said once the number of participating residents reaches 200, the monthly collection cost for all Lynnfield participants will be reduced; the cost will also be reduced when the number reaches 400. Approximately 95 residents currently participate in the program.
Tomasz said the initiative is in response to the state’s efforts to require communities to ramp up their efforts to create organic-waste-disposal solutions.
“This November, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection will require any facility with more than a half ton of organic waste to provide a formal organic-disposal solution,” said Tomasz. “This is certainly the case for our school facilities.”
Concurrently, a student-led Civics Actions Project (one of 15 such projects) at Lynnfield High School is focused on a project for a composting program for the school’s cafeteria to reduce waste organically.
“Right now, we are trying hard to incentivize residents to begin composting,” said Tomasz. “Taking organic matter out of the trash stream is not just environmentally beneficial, but provides the town significant disposal cost savings.
“Essentially, cities and towns are running out of landfill capacity for trash disposal, forcing much more expensive longer cross-state hauls to find capacity. Organic refuse recycling is coming and we are starting right now to prepare for that day when it becomes mandatory.”
Tomasz said that anywhere from 10-18 pounds of organic waste on average per resident is thrown away in the trash each week. The goal is to cut down on the amount of organic waste to help reduce the costs of removal.
“The more people who join Black Earth, the cheaper it is for all to join,” said Tomasz. “The goal is to provide people with a dollar break, to get the cost down from $200 to $150 or so.”
Black Earth Compost was founded in January 2011, in Gloucester. Originally a one-man, one-truck Cape Ann company, it has steadily grown to become the leading full-service compost company in New England.
