King County to pilot institutional food-waste collection under $396,109 USDA grant

Claire Ryan, a King County recycling program staff member, told the Energy and Environmental Committee the county received a $396,109 USDA composting and food-waste reduction grant and must complete award documents on a short timeline. County staff said the project will begin active operations in March and will run about two years.

Nut graf: The pilot will collect institutional food scraps at multiple large facilities, consolidate them and contract hauling to industrial-scale compost or biodigestion facilities; it will also pilot a seasonal public drop-off and provide some compost to small growers and community gardens. Organizers said the material will not be composted at the generating sites except for small garden-scale operations.

Ryan described project partners and sites: the countyAdult Justice Center; the Northern Illinois Food Bank (which will contribute cash rather than staff-time match); the Kane County Cougars concession operations at Northwest Madison Field; and Sherman Hospital (an Advocate Health facility). She said the county will pilot seasonal public drop-off at Fabian during winter, when yard-waste collection is not available.

Ryan emphasized that the collected food scraps will be transported to permitted industrial composting or biodigestion facilities for processing. "The plan here is to have this material collected, primarily in the kitchen areas of these facilities, and then put out for collection... and deliver it to an industrial post or a biodigestion facility," she said.

Budget and match: Ryan said most of the grant funds will pay contracted hauling and processing services; participating partners provide staff-time as in-kind match except the food bank, which will supply cash. The total project value including match approaches $500,000. Ryan said the county will use the grant to pay for supplies, some contracted services and a portion of the project managersalary.

Expected outcomes: Ryan said the pilot intends to divert about 2 million pounds (approximately 1,000 metric tonnes CO2e) of food from landfill over two years and to produce compost for community growers. She noted that markets for compost are smaller than for chemical fertilizers but that small growers and community gardens have expressed interest.

Committee questions covered operational details: how bins and liners will be used in kitchens, collection frequency (at least twice weekly at some sites), whether public drop-off will be available at partner facilities (not at Sherman or the food bank), and how the county will measure results and seek future funding should the pilot continue after grant expiration.

Ending: Ryan said the county will solicit service providers through bids for hauling and processing, track the pilots results and seek ways to sustain successful elements beyond the grant period.