One of the leaders of the environmental group Clean Ocean Access urges the Town to pursue more composting to help save space in the Central Landfill and do what's right for the planet.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
TALKING TRASH
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JANUARY 25, 2022) – Dave McLaughlin knows it’s a subject most people really don’t want to think about, let alone talk about.
But the longtime face of Clean Ocean Access said if Middletown — and the rest of Rhode Island — don’t start enacting a long-term plan for what’s going to happen to the state’s garbage, serious issues are right on the horizon.
Recently, McLaughlin addressed the Town Council with his concerns, saying the Central Landfill in Johnston where the state’s trash ends up is reaching its capacity.
To help extend the useful life of the landfill and do what’s right environmentally, McLaughlin said his Middletown-based group has teamed up with Black Earth Compost of Gloucester, Massachusetts to try to get food scraps out of the general waste stream.
Through the “Healthy Soils Healthy Seas” program coordinated by Clean Ocean Access, residents pay $99 a year for Black Earth Compost to pick up their food scraps twice a month and turn those materials into fresh, organic compost. For more, visit https://www.cleanoceanaccess.org/hshsri/ online.
“Whether the landfill fills up by 2034 or 2040, it’s going to happen next decade and some of the options for the next landfill are just horrific,” McLaughlin said. “Permitting for a new landfill, I don’t know where anyone would want another landfill in the state of Rhode Island.”
“In general, about a third of your waste (by weight) is actually food scraps,” McLaughlin added. “Taking that out of the waste is going to reduce your tipping fees.”
“By removing the food scraps from the waste stream, it will reduce the amount people are paying for the ‘Pay-As-You-Throw’ program because they won’t have the food scraps in that particular bag.”
The item was before the council because the current hauling contract for the “Pay-As-You-Throw” curbside collection program is set to expire on June 30. Republic Services has had the contract for the last several years.
The Town is bringing in DSM Environmental Services Inc. to help secure the best deal for Middletown possible. The Windsor, Vermont firm has worked with the Town twice previously and saved the community tens of thousands of dollars in waste handling expenses.
Applauding local leaders for their foresight with the “Pay-As-You-Throw” program implemented in 2007, McLaughlin said more communities should be employing a similar model. For more information about “Pay-As-You-Throw,” visit https://www.middletownri.com/263/Trash-Recycling-Program online.
“Huge thanks to the Town of Middletown for putting in the ‘Pay-As-You-Throw’ program,” McLaughlin said. “I think overall you’ve got the highest diversion rates in the state. It’s a great accomplishment and I think you should be proud.”
With the way things are heading in Rhode Island — and the region — McLaughlin said changes are needed. In response, he asked the Town to look into adding some variety of food scrap collection and composting into its next “Pay-As-You-Throw” contract, something local leaders wanted to hear more about.
“I’m interested,” council President Paul M. Rodrigues said. “I know in my yellow bag, that’s what’s mostly in there — food scraps.”
“We really need to just teach homeowners how to do it,” Councilwoman Barbara A. VonVillas said. “I compost at home and use it in my garden. All we really need to do is educate people.”
McLaughlin said change was needed because what’s happening now wasn’t working as well as it should.
“When food waste goes to the landfill, it creates methane gas, which is a worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide,” McLaughlin said. “In fairness, there is a methane gas capturing device at the landfill, but there’s still a fair amount of methane created.”
“Composting food scraps turns it into finished compost,” McLaughlin said. “Finished compost brings out healthy gardens and healthy soils, healthy vegetation and it sequesters carbon from the atmosphere.”
He also said that other than figuring out what to do with “stretchy plastics” in landfills, food scraps and composting were the hottest subjects in waste disposal circles.
“We’re really interested in this from the behavior change point of view,” McLaughlin said. “Today, you have the option of ‘Do I recycle it or do I throw it out?’ If tomorrow, you (have a choice of) ‘Do I recycle it or if it’s food scraps, I put it here?’ then what you’re left with are truly things you’re throwing out. Then you can ask the question ‘Why am I buying things that I’m throwing out?’”
McLaughlin said that incinerating trash wasn’t an option in Rhode Island, something he wholeheartedly endorsed.
“Five out of the other six states in New England have privatized waste and a majority of it leaves the states (and goes) to Ohio, Virginia, South Carolina,” McLaughlin said. “It goes on a rail…One of the biggest issues with moving waste out of New England right now is the lack of rail cars. There’s a huge backlog in the supply chains related to COVID.”
####