The city of Frederick, Md., is not one to “waste” an opportunity. When its citizens pushed for a residential compost program to help reduce municipal waste and encourage environmental stewardship, community leaders worked to create a program that, to date, boasts over 1,100 participants and has diverted more than 574,000 pounds of organic refuse from landfills.

          “It is a very popular program, and most people are super happy about it. I am thrilled that it is working and that we have the participation we do, but how we move forward is up to our leaders,” said city sustainability manager Jenny Willoughby.

A pilot project takes flight

          In June 2022, Frederick launched its residential compost project in Neighborhood Action Council areas 5 and 11. Folks were invited to sign up for collection services that would be paid for by the city for the duration of the program, which was expected to last six months and include approximately 800 households. The program proved so successful that the city added two more NACs to the project in order to determine what the uptick might be before expanding the program citywide in August 2023.

          All households that receive municipal trash services are eligible to participate in the project at no cost thanks in part to a $200,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant as well as $100,000 from the city’s operating budget. Those living in multifamily buildings or in neighborhoods that utilize a private trash collection service may opt into the curbside compost program for a monthly fee. Willoughby said starting the program as a pilot project has allowed her to collect the relevant data that she needs to advise community leaders about how to scale the program in the future and seek additional funding for administrative and promotional purposes.

          “Some of the money is being used for pickup services while some of the money is being used to create a marketing campaign so that we can reach more households,” she said.

          Willoughby added one reason that Frederick’s residential compost pilot program has been so successful is the partnership with Key City Compost, a local firm that helps keep costs down. Unlike its trash, which is hauled to Pennsylvania and dumped, the compostable materials collected by Key City do not leave the county. The organic materials that come in are composted on-site and then recycled back to residents as rich, fertile soil nutrients that can be used in garden and landscaping projects throughout the community.

          “Key City takes some things that you are not able to compost at home, such as greasy pizza boxes, meat, dairy, 100% paper plates, seafood and more, so we relied on them to educate people on what can and cannot be composted. In addition to a yes/no column on their website, they have a great customer service team that can help answer any questions that residents have,” Willoughby said.

A ‘weighty’ issue

          According to the company website, the concept for Key City Compost came from the 2016 Frederick County review process to study the state of solid waste in the county. That process highlighted the fact that the county had no stakeholders for food waste collection and disposal. Eager to fill that need, Key City began diverting waste from landfills in order to reduce total atmospheric carbon, create jobs and strengthen the local food system with high-quality soil products.

          By removing compostable materials from the waste stream and recycling them, the city of Frederick is reducing its overall amount of trash going into landfills by about 30%. This not only saves the city money in terms of tipping fees — which are based on weight — but also helps reduce the community’s carbon footprint because those materials do not have to be transported out of state to a dumping site where they will emit harmful greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane.

          Willoughby said it is not easy for communities to replicate their residential compost pilot program unless the infrastructure is in place. Prince George’s County, Md., offers composting pickup to all households receiving county services while the Baltimore Compost Collective is a local service that collects food scraps from residences in neighborhoods and then composts the material in urban gardens where it is used to grow fresh produce and build food security. It also serves as a youth entrepreneurship program that employs local teenagers and gives them hands-on experience in managing a small-scale composting operation as well as its expansion.

          “Unfortunately, our landfill is quite full, which is why our trash is shipped out, and we can’t afford to create a new spot,” she said. “It’s great that we have a local vendor who has that space set aside and can create a facility — so if you are going to start a compost project, have a contractor on board who can serve as a partner and help get it going.”

          As for where Frederick’s program goes from here, it’s anyone’s guess.

          “We are going to have to make a decision soon about funding, and I hope to present some information soon to the mayor and the board that will give them something to mull over because I am going to run out of money, and I will need a decision to be made.”

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