Last week I had the opportunity to tour GoZERO Services‘ future Class II (fingers crossed as they work through zoning challenges) and Andre Farms‘ Class III Composting facilities. Both of these businesses are a providing an ecologically and economically beneficial service by diverting organic waste (e.g., food scraps, yard trimmings, agricultural waste) from landfills. GoZERO Services and Andre Farms are commercial composting companies a few steps ahead of Rubber City Reuse, Northeast Ohio’s premier commercial composting company (though I may be a little biased as Rubber City Reuse’s strategic marketing and community engagement manager as well as a long-time residential composting member).
Expanding from a family farm, Andre Farms is now a Northwest Ohio, family-run business that specializes in sustainable stewardship of agricultural lands providing organic material recycling at their Class III facility as well as custom soil, water, and nutrient management solutions. During our tour, we had the opportunity to view the only packaged food separator in Ohio, if not the United States. This specific piece of equipment provides Andre Farms’ the ability to separate organic products (e.g., bagged potatoes, candy bars, frozen meals, canned foods) from their containers including wrappers, bags, and aluminum cans. The video below is this amazing machine in action separating pre-bagged potatoes into two piles, one that goes to the landfill and another which will go directly into the Andre Farms’ compost piles.
I was absolutely amazed by this piece of equipment and hope to see more of them deployed across the United States and around the world. Machinery like this allows for nutrients to be extracted from pre-packaged foods that would otherwise go into the landfill. The nearly 3/4 million dollar price tag associated with the purchase of this machine in 2014 (which means the cost has absolutely increased) it is still less expensive than the labor cost required remove each pre-packaged food item from it’s container/wrapper.
But the best part of this two-part composting facility tour was being surrounded by individuals who shared the same level of awe and excitement about diverting organic materials from landfills and turning it into nutrient-rich compost and liquid fertilizer. When we divert organic materials from landfills we are reducing methane production from the decomposition process from 34 – 80% (depending on the study). By diverting compostable materials from landfills we are allowing for more efficient use of the limited space within landfills. When compostable materials are successfully diverted from landfills and transformed into nutrient-dense compost or liquid fertilizer we create soil amendments for residential, commercial, agricultural, and ecological applications which are more cost effective and environmentally friendly.
I am so grateful to have learned more about the amazing working being done in my home state. I am honored to be part of the community working to highlight the economic, social, and environmental benefits of composting.