Event: Montgomery County Food Council Environmental Impact Working Group (EIWG)- Public Meeting
March 6, 10:30-12:30
Bethesda, MD
Eileen Kao, Chief of Waste Reduction and Recycling Section, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), reported on progress in implementing the April 2018 “Strategic Plan to Advance Composting, Compost Use and Food Scraps Diversion in Montgomery County, Maryland.”
The Montgomery County Food Council has made composting a priority. The County’s fiscal year 2019 operating budget focuses on three aspects of the plan:
1. Securing supply from commercial and institutional food scrap generators, who account for the majority of the 147,000 tons of food scraps generated in the county annually
2. Securing processing capacity within the county for composting and anaerobic digestion
3. Creating an educational program to raise countywide awareness of food scrap recycling.
The county is currently collecting survey information from the largest commercial and institutional generators (beginning with grocery stores and then targeting hospitals, Montgomery College and Montgomery County Public Schools, and some large multi-family senior housing facilities) regarding their current generation volume and disposal practices. It is close to securing composting capacity within the region and plans to have some commercial and institutional food scrap collection service in place by fiscal year 2020. It is also developing educational materials covering composting basics, which will be posted on the DEP website.
Adam Diamond of the EIWG reported on the status of on-farm composting. Many county farmers currently compost their own waste, and this capacity could be expanded but county and state regulations are restrictive. County regulations restrict farm composting to an “accessory” activity (less than half of total business) and intake of off-site materials to 20 percent of total. Diamond believes that new markets for composted material on farms are needed as well.
Ms. Kao also noted several developments in the Department of Environmental Protection, including the continued implementation of the 2015 ban on foam in carryout food and packaging peanuts. The county has the most stringent legislation in the state and it cannot be pre-empted by state legislation. In addition to the hiring of Adam Ortiz as DEP director, the Division of Solid Waste has a new director of Northern Operations and Strategic Planning, Lonnie Hefland; a new Compost Facility Manager, Judy Fox; and there is currently a search for a new program manager of commercial food scraps.