SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Picture a huge tractor-trailer truck filled to the brim with trash. Now picture 10 of them.

That’s how much garbage is delivered to the Monticello waste transfer facility every day during the off-season. In the summer, the amount quadruples. 

We recently toured the Monticello facility with other members of Sustainable Sullivan, a new grassroots environmental group. There we saw literally tons of trash get dumped onto the “tipping floor” of an open-air facility. 

Workers driving backhoes scooped up the stuff and mashed it down into even bigger tractor-trailers for transport to the Seneca Meadows landfill 190 miles away. 

This goes on eight hours a day, six days a week. 

It’s appalling to see—and humbling, too. The sheer volume made us realize that any difference we could make through our individual actions was trivial compared to the enormity of our collective waste. 

So what could make a difference?

The 30 percent solution

Composting. If we were to collect the county’s food scraps for composting instead of tossing them in the trash, we’d eliminate a good 25 to 30 percent of our municipal solid waste stream. 

Collection bins for household compostables are available at most waste-transfer stations in the county today. But the greatest opportunity lies with businesses and institutions that generate lots of food waste. Think Resorts World Catskills, SUNY Sullivan, Woodbourne Correctional Facility and large supermarkets. 

The state’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling law requires businesses and institutions that generate an average of two tons of food scraps per week to send them to a composting facility, if one exists within a 25-mile radius.

There’s no such facility in Sullivan—yet. But the county has obtained the permit needed to collect compost and is seeking a $1.6 million grant from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Those funds would enable Sullivan to start the process of creating an industrial-scale composting operation at the Monticello transfer station. 

Once that operation is up and running, the Department of Public Works could provide bear-proof dumpsters to establishments currently exempted under the law—hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities and K-12 schools—and make weekly pickups to divert that food waste from landfill.

Typically, such compost would be sold to generate income for the county. Or we could take a bolder, more creative approach. What about donating the compost to a network of community gardens throughout the county? 

Staffed by junior farmers, these plots could be used to grow produce in healthy soil enriched with nutrients from our food scraps. They could host workshops on food, nutrition, cooking and the benefits of going organic. 

Best of all, they could offer the public pick-your-own-vegetables for free. What’s not to love about that—on top of cutting our waste stream by 30 percent? 

Repurposing C&D

So far, we’ve just been talking about municipal solid waste, which amounts to about 52,000 tons a year. But the county also has to cope with nearly as much—43,000 tons—of construction and demolition debris, or C&D. 

According to the DEC, materials like concrete, asphalt, brick and rock make up 35 percent of the C&D waste stream. The good news is, they are easily repurposed. 

Once these materials are crushed, the rubble—called “recycled aggregate”—can be used in landscaping, as backfill, or as a base for roads, driveways, retaining walls, walkways and patios.

Meanwhile, non-pressure-treated lumber that hasn’t been painted, like the 2x4s used in house framing, can be reclaimed and used to build structures like tool sheds, raised garden beds or fencing. Or they can be put through a wood chipper and added to compost. 

Reuse and repair

What about discarded items that still have some life left in them? Today, at periodic repair cafés throughout the county, neighbors help neighbors by fixing broken items, keeping them out of the landfill. 

As for other reusables—say, electronics, clothing, furniture and building materials—many communities have thrift stores, antique shops and online marketplaces. 

Neighboring Ulster County is planning to take rehoming such items a step further by creating a reuse center. Usable or repairable items will be pulled from the waste stream, refurbished, and sold to the public at modest prices through a network of reclamation stores.

Composting, repurposing, reusing and repair won’t skinny down our waste stream to zero. But these steps will significantly reduce the amount of waste Sullivan County needs to manage. 

Rebekah Creshkoff and Eric Feinblatt are cofounders of Sustainable Sullivan.