Waste district receives composting grant

SOUTHERN VERMONT - The Windham Solid Waste Management District received notification that it has received a grant of $150,000 from the USDA Community Facilities Program to assist in construction of a larger capacity food waste composting facility at its location on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro.
Michelle Cherrier, chair of the WSWMD board of supervisors, said the board has approved approximately $225,000 for the new facility and hopes to have it constructed and operational a year from now.
Bob Spencer, WSWMD executive director, explained that the state’s mandate to recycle food scraps, which took effect in 2015, has significantly increased the quantities delivered to the composting facility by residents and trash haulers to the point that the permitted capacity is exceeded. The facility is the second largest food waste composting facility in Vermont. Spencer said he was notified by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that WSWMD had to seek approval for a medium or large food waste composting facility or turn away sources already coming to the facility.
The new facility will have a 4,000-square-foot concrete pad covered by a fabric building. The design includes an aeration system and a heat recovery technology to accelerate the composting process and will direct exhaust air to a soil biofilter to treat odors. The total cost is estimated at about $550,000.
WSWMD conducts tours of its composting facility for schools and other interested parties.