The Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) launched its first small-scale composting pilot project 13 years ago to demonstrate the environmental benefits and feasibility of municipal composting. Since then, the UCRRA Organics Recovery Facility has managed more than 36,000 tons (73.4 million pounds) of source-separated organics that, if landfilled, would have traveled over 500,000 road miles for disposal. That’s the equivalent of driving 20 trips around the surface of the Earth and represents more than 62,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) avoided, equivalent to the CO2 emissions from burning 74 million pounds of coal, or consuming 154,000-plus barrels of oil, or the carbon sequestered by 67,000-plus acres of U.S. forests in one year (Source: EPA). 

UCRRA sells its compost to farmers, landscapers, home gardeners and the general public, and since 2012 the agency has manufactured and sold over 21,975 tons (43.9 million pounds) of finished compost.

For UCRRA, composting is a win-win-win solution to the growing waste crisis affecting communities across New York State and the nation. 

First, by composting we can reduce our reliance on far-flung landfills and incinerators, many of which are located in disadvantaged communities that should no longer be expected to bear the brunt of our “take-make-toss” consumer culture. 

Second, composting significantly reduces emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, both by avoiding anaerobic digestion in landfills (which generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas) and by reducing tailpipe emissions from the heavy trucks that ship waste from our community to the landfill, nearly 250 miles away. 

Finally, since food waste is heavy compared to many other materials and disposal of waste is charged by weight, consumers should see savings from their hauling companies over time as those companies pay less at the scale for waste that includes fewer heavy food scraps.

From an initial capacity of just 500 tons per year, UCRRA’s Organics Recovery Facility is now permitted to handle up to 5,000 tons per year. We are awaiting final approval from DEC for an expansion to 7,500 tons per year, and the facility is designed to handle up to 10,000 tons in the future. 

UCRRA has invested more than $1.3 million in the facility over the past five years, including the purchase of new equipment, an expanded concrete pad, a new compost bagging facility and Sustainable Living classroom, and other facility improvements. These investments, which won the agency recognition in 2021 as the Small-Scale Compost Manufacturer of the Year by the U.S. Compost Council, are driven by the recognition that food waste comprises a large share of the county’s municipal solid waste. According to a 2022 study by the Waste Reduction and Management Institute at Stony Brook University, food scraps comprise 28 percent of the municipal solid waste received by UCRRA, or nearly 30,000 tons per year. 

In the coming years, UCRRA plans a major expansion of composting throughout Ulster County as part of its efforts to divert up to 90 percent of waste from landfills by 2050. UCRRA is partnering with Ulster County to increase compliance with local and state food waste laws and create dozens of new food scrap collection sites throughout the county, in order to encourage residents and businesses to source-separate their food waste. To handle future increases in the amount of food scraps collected, UCRRA plans to work with local municipalities and school districts to implement “in-vessel” composting systems, so that food scraps can be processed closer to the source, rather than trucked all the way to our Kingston facility.

Alongside its facility and system investments, UCRRA’s composting program includes a healthy dose of outreach and education managed by our Recycling Outreach Team, which develops and delivers programs that build community awareness about food loss, food donation programs, how to reduce wasted food and local food insecurity issues. The team conducts educational facility tours, free workshops and programs for youth in schools, libraries, and community centers. UCRRA provides free resources and technical support for any group or organization looking to learn about composting in order to encourage a more engaged and informed community that has high ecological literacy and is better prepared to act on the environmental challenges of the future.

Thirteen years in, the UCRRA compost program has become a model for organics recycling projects across the northeast, and we routinely share our experiential knowledge with dozens of other municipalities looking to launch similar programs. As we look toward the future, composting will continue to be a major priority as UCRRA advances its zero-waste goals, and we hope that increasing public awareness about the benefits of composting, alongside increasing capacity to divert and process food waste, will lead to a future where every household and business chooses to grow green by joining the composting movement. Learn more about how you can get started at www.ucrra.org/waste-recycling/food-waste.

Angelina Brandt is the director of sustainability for the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency. Marc Rider is the agency’s executive director.