Since the early 1990s, Massachusetts has banned yard waste from disposal or incineration. To further facilitate diversion of organic waste from disposal, Massachusetts allows certain types of small-scale composting operations to be conditionally exempt from the requirement to obtain a site permit as long as specific performance standards are met. … Read More
Massachusetts allows certain types of composting operations to be conditionally exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit as long as specific performance standards are met. These operations include leaf composters who have less than 10,000 tons on-site at one time. Many other types of on-farm composting, including up to 20 cubic yards per day of vegetative scraps or 5 tons per day of food material, are permitted if a registration is submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture and performance standards are met.… Read More
Minnesota passed a law in 2009 that mandated all yard trimmings generated in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area could not be collected in plastic bags as of January 2010. The intent of the law is to prevent non-biodegradable plastic from entering composting facilities. The compostable bag law was an amendment to the existing yard trimmings diversion law (stipulating that yard trimmings may not be sent to landfills and instead must be composted) that went into effect statewide in 1994. … Read More
As part of fulfilling sustainability goals for campus landscaping, Duke University has included the purchase of compost in its guidelines for it university procurement office, thus creating an end-use market for local producers of compost.… Read More
West Virginia addresses composting in a novel way: it categorizes acceptable farm and facility feedstock types more broadly than most states. West Virginia’s Yard Waste Composting Rule (33CSR3) prohibits yard waste from landfill dumping. … Read More
West Virginia addresses composting in a novel way: it categorizes acceptable farm and facility feedstock types more broadly than most states. West Virginia’s Yard Waste Composting Rule (33CSR3) prohibits yard waste from landfill dumping. … Read More
Pennsylvania, like many other states, has regulations that prohibit yard trimmings in landfills. Pennsylvania’s ban is less encompassing than many states, which ban yard trimmings in landfills regardless of their source of generation.… Read More
Pennsylvania’s source-separated composting general permit is available, allowing farmers and other small-scale operations to compost a number of nonhazardous municipal wastes. Approved uses for finished compost include marketing or distribution as soil substitute, soil conditioner, soil amendment, fertilizer, or mulch.… Read More
By requiring the use of compost in construction and landscape projects, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is becoming a model for public agencies seeking to improve their environmental stewardship. Governmental agencies throughout the United States can look toward NYSDOT to see how the public sector is adapting its procurement policies to take advantage … Read More