Chittenden Solid Waste District staff reported progress and continuing challenges on July 30 from the district's organic recycling facility (Green Mountain Compost) following the first full year of a board-approved contamination policy.

"Our contamination policy is a volumetric threshold. If a load is over 5% contaminated, it goes into a contaminated load branch," Allison Smith, organics contamination and quality control lead, told commissioners. Loads exceeding 5% are charged a fee; loads over 10% are rare and subject to higher fees or removal.

Staff said the policy went into effect July 1, 2024, and that routine load checks and targeted outreach have improved incoming feedstock quality. Allison said she performed about 350 load checks over the past year and that most loads were under the 5% contamination threshold. "Most of our loads coming into our facility are great," she said.

But staff identified persistent problem areas. The most common contaminant is conventional film "liner" bags that resemble compostable bags but are not certified; those bags break open and can scatter plastic through otherwise clean loads. Allison said certified compostable liners (typically certified by third-party programs such as BPI) are acceptable, but many consumers buy look-alike or greenwashed bags that are not compostable. "Liner bags . . . are far and away the biggest one that we see," she said.

School cafeteria streams and some commercial break-room waste were also highlighted. Staff said direct outreach improves results but that punitive fees have been effective in at least one commercial case; Allison described sending notices and, when the stream did not improve, applying a fine that led the business to change behavior.

Operations improvements also reduced contamination in the curing/product area: staff credited new equipment, including an ARRIS wind sifter installed on a screener and upgrades funded by the board, along with manual hand-picking of overs (bulky woody material that can be cleaned and reintroduced into the process). Allison described a large cleaning-and-shredding effort that enabled material previously destined for landfill to be used in-house.

Financial results from fines were modest overall but notable in one month when a single excessively contaminated load generated a spike; Allison said that one load was billed at "$150 per ton" and that the tonnage (about 6.5 tons) produced the spike.

Staff said they will continue targeted outreach (particularly to identified school districts), increase public resources about certified compostable liners, and maintain ongoing load checks: "The hardest part of contamination is that you have to maintain it," Allison said. Commissioners asked whether CSWD or haulers could sell certified liners to customers; staff said the district does not currently retail liners at facilities but may consider options at drop-off centers and will provide clearer web and printed guidance about certification and acceptable materials.

The presentation was informational; the board did not take formal regulatory action at the meeting.