Beaufort County staff report growth in composting, in‑house tire hauling and equipment/staff additions

Beaufort County Solid Waste & Recycling staff updated the Keep Beaufort County Beautiful advisory board on program operations, composting participation and upcoming equipment and staffing changes.

Victoria Hoffman, Beaufort County Solid Waste and Recycling, said the department’s composting program has earned recognition from the U.S. Composting Council and is drawing interest from other counties and municipalities. She gave participation figures, saying the program has collected 27,596 pounds of yard waste to date, with 15,068 pounds from convenience centers and 8,646 pounds from local businesses; staff has diverted 10,169 pounds of yard debris combined with food waste into compost.

Hoffman said residents who sign up complete an online training and quiz so the county can track where participants live for NEFA/USDA grant reporting and targeted outreach. “We are tracking the data very closely,” she said, and asked residents not to share participation codes because it distorts reporting.

On operations, Hoffman described several convenience‑center upgrades handled by the county’s Facilities department—temporary kiosk booths at Shanklin and new prefabricated huts for smaller centers—to improve staff shelter and comfort. She said some larger centers, including Hilton Head, require site‑specific solutions.

The department is also moving some services in‑house. Hoffman said initial in‑house tire hauling operations are complete and staff estimate approximately $70,000 in cost savings compared with FY26 third‑party hauling invoices, which totaled $92,548. She said the FY27 purchase order for tire hauling is $25,000 (with staff projecting actual spending nearer $20,000). “Even with additional fuel and staff time, bringing the service in house provides a significant cost savings,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman outlined equipment purchases approved for FY27: a compartmentalized roll‑off container (additional to one already at Coffin Point), a compost screener to improve finished compost quality, a U‑dump trailer for e‑waste and tire work, and an F550 flatbed and F250 pickup to support field operations. The county has also sequestered an older rim‑removal machine and plans staff training to derim tires and recover metal rims for sale, reducing disposal costs.

From a staffing perspective, Hoffman said the FY27 budget funded one additional solid waste foreman (bringing total foremen to three) and two lead convenience center attendants, which she said will improve daily supervisory coverage across the county’s nine convenience centers.

Hoffman said the department received requested operational funds in FY27, but new capital improvement project (CIP) requests were not approved countywide. Previously approved FY26 CIPs were moved into a bond account; shifting those funds to new priorities would require county council action and an ordinance amendment, limiting the department’s ability to immediately reassign money to expand composting operations.

Hoffman also summarized grant activity and reporting: the department submitted its NEFA/USDA annual report and is preparing required SF‑425 finance paperwork, has pending Palmetto grant activity, and awaits FY27 awards from the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services after a state restructuring delayed reimbursements. She said on‑call consultant HDR will update the county’s solid waste program handbook (the previous version dates to the 1990s) to capture operations, SOPs and institutional knowledge.

The presentation closed with outreach updates: staff intend to distribute additional roll carts, pilot campus composting at select schools and increase public education through an animation funded by a USDA grant and via county TV and social media. The department also plans to rebid major hauling contracts ahead of their 2027 expirations.

The board did not take formal action on these items during the presentation; staff will return with more detailed year‑end reports and data at future meetings.