Needham transfer station manager urges push to boost food-waste diversion

Matt DeMaris, superintendent of the transfer station for the Town of Needham, told the Climate Action Committee on July 8 that reducing trash tonnage by expanding food‑waste diversion will produce the town’s biggest near‑term climate and cost benefits. “I think that’s where we’re gonna have our biggest impact,” DeMaris said.

DeMaris described Needham’s current program, run under contract with AgriCycle Clean Energy. The contractor collects food waste at the transfer station and at the town’s schools and hauls material to an anaerobic digester in Maine. DeMaris said Needham has used AgriCycle for about three years and has “another two years on the contract.”

Why it matters: food diverted from the municipal trash stream lowers hauling and disposal costs and reduces greenhouse‑gas emissions tied to landfill or incineration. DeMaris said current diversion is modest compared with the town’s potential: “We’re probably diverting about 35, 36 tons per month.” He estimated the transfer station received about 750 tons last month and that roughly half of that was municipal solid waste, meaning food could represent 25%–40% of household trash by weight if fully captured.

DeMaris stressed operational limits and costs. He said transport to the Maine digester is not ideal and that regional infrastructure has not grown fast enough to provide closer options. “There’s an opportunity there. We need to educate,” he said, describing fruit‑fly issues, container size and participation barriers. He added that the program is not yet a money saver in all cases: “When we’re very efficient, we’re paying a little more per ton per food‑waste collection than we are for trash.” But he said with efficient collection the transfer‑station food waste can approach cost parity, citing a range of about $112–$118 per ton when runs are efficient.

What was discussed: DeMaris reviewed school outreach and the role of Nutrition Services. He praised cafeteria staff and students’ participation in Piloted school programs and suggested expanding drop‑off points at the transfer station and other monitored locations to reduce contamination. He also recommended buying a modest number of home composters (using existing DEP grant funds) as a low‑cost way to divert vegetative waste while providing options for residents concerned about meat or odor. DeMaris said a household pilot and school curriculum can change long‑term behavior: “When I was a kid… I tear out the window on an envelope because I always did it and I can’t stop. Hopefully, these kids are gonna be like, oh, I’ve got a banana peel. I can’t just throw it in the trash.”

Barriers identified: the committee and DeMaris discussed distance to digesters, feedstock supply needed to justify building local digesters, and economics. DeMaris said anaerobic digesters are expensive to build and need a consistent feedstock stream; he recalled engineering interest in the region that waned when supply proved inconsistent. He also described that private haulers attempted curbside food‑waste collection pilots but found low customer willingness to pay; he cited examples in Natick and Framingham where household takeup was limited.

Data and next steps: DeMaris described a household survey (2,318 responses) showing about half of respondents said they use the food program and that 97% said they recycle. He encouraged a town waste‑stream audit to quantify food waste, tapped DEP grant funds for home composters, and suggested the transfer station track monthly costs and tonnage to inform decisions. He also recommended outreach and a public audit, including student projects, to better measure household food waste and to guide any expansion of curbside or additional drop points.

DeMaris emphasized the distinction between options discussed and formal decisions by the committee: the presentation was an operational update and request for input rather than a vote to change town services.

Ending: DeMaris said he will follow up with committee members and staff to provide additional cost and tonnage reports and to explore pilot options, including outreach to nearby communities and vendors with smaller digesters. “I can get those kind of reports, and we can talk about how to present that,” he said.