TOWN OF SKOWHEGAN FOOD SCRAPS & COMPOSTING PROGRAM

Current Skowhegan System- Turned Pile Compost ingredients simply stacked into a pile and left to decompose. Least labor intensive, piles turned 4X/yr. Least expensive method. Minimal Equipment (Front-end loader). Compost is screened 1-2 times per year.

Our Current Composting Recipe Leaf and Yard Waste from the residents of Skowhegan. Horse Manure from local farms. One 40 yard load of Chicken Manure. Food Scraps brought in by Skowhegan residents.

TOWN OF SKOWHEGAN’S CURRENT COMPOSTING SITE

Skowhegan’s Food Scrap Program We currently have about 35 residents bringing their food scraps to the recycling facility in the containers that we provide. We have 5 gallon buckets available as well as kitchen counter containers.

Where do you drop off your food scraps? Once you are signed up for the program, we have a special 2 yard container located on the transfer station side of the facility. This container has a built in aeration system which helps start the process of breaking down the food scraps until they are ready to be added into the compost pile.

Items we can accept for food scraps… *All fruits and vegetables *Coffee grounds *Paper coffee filters *Eggs and eggshells *Dairy products (no liquids) *Flowers and floral trimmings *Grasses and weeds

Then What???????? Once the container is full it will be emptied out and mixed into the compost piles made up of the leaf and yard waste and manure. (Just to let you know how well it works…… We emptied the container on March 9 th and mixed it into the compost. Within a week and a half there were no signs of the food scraps. They were completely composted !!!!!

Once the compost piles are ready we then screen out any large pieces or debris. All of the compost that we generate is then given back to the town. It is available to residents free of charge. The town also uses a large portion of it for projects such as reseeding ditches and maintaining the ball fields.

WHY IS COMPOSTING SO IMPORTANT TO SKOWHEGAN? Each year we take in approximately 2000 yards of leaf and yard waste at the Skowhegan Solid Waste Management Facility. Each yard of this waste weighs about 150 pounds. This calculates into 300,000 pounds of waste, which equals 150 tons. The disposal fee that the town currently pays for municipal solid waste is $66.38 per ton. If we did not have the composting program all of the leaf and yard waste would have to be disposed of as municipal solid waste. THIS WOULD TOTAL AN EXTRA DISPOSAL COST TO THE TOWN OF APPROXIMATELY $9, PER YEAR. In addition to this cost we would also have to pay for more containers to haul this waste away. We would need approximately 30 additional containers hauled per year and it costs $ per container. This would be an additional cost of $3, PER YEAR. In conclusion, by having the composting program available at the Skowhegan Solid Waste Management Facility we are SAVING the citizens of Skowhegan approximately $13, per year! *** This does not include any of the food scraps we are taking out of the waste stream!!!!!!!!

Our Finished Product!!!!!!!!! Compost will improve the quality of almost any soil, and for this reason it is most often considered a soil conditioner. Compost improves the structure and texture of the soil enabling it to better retain nutrients, moisture, and air for the betterment of plants.

Food Scraps are too good to WASTE!! Join the Town of Skowhegan’s Food Scrap Program TODAY!!!!!