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After an RFP process, the Village Board is drafting an agreement with Ellerslie Stable, which would act as a subcontractor to manage composting at their farm. The farm would receive a load of food scraps once a week. This means that additional traffic entering the farm would be a once or twice a week delivery via the farmer’s truck or The O Zone’s converted mini school bus. The Village and the Town would collaborate to host drop-off points for the public at convenient locations. The program is planned to be free for all. The Village requested proposals from a farm that is already composting and where their compost site is set back from neighbors and wetlands (per DEC requirements).

The DEC has indicated that the Village could still use the $200,000 grant for site improvements and equipment at the farm to enable proper incorporation of food scraps per DEC regulations, such as adding an Aerated Static Pile system (ASP). (See more details on how ASP works below.) The creation of compost is considered a farming practice by the NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

In September, the Village received one proposal from Michael Decola of Ellerslie Stable. His existing compost site is located on his over 500 acre farm, where he composts manure and shavings from over 30 horse stalls. Michael is pursuing DEC registration for his composting site to be able to receive approximately 2 tons of food scraps per week. The DEC Division of Materials Management oversees and regulates compost sites in NYS.

At the September 12th Village Board meeting, the Village Board voted to accept this proposal. Next steps are for Trustee Vanessa Bertozzi, Mayor Bassett and Michael Decola to meet to discuss details. We will need to draft an agreement that the Village Board will need to approve.

See the Daily Catch’s article.

Blue dot showing the existing compost site at Ellerslie Stable

Aerated static pile (ASP) compost systems do not stink! When the pile is oxygenated, it heats the pile to 140 degrees F. This environment keeps microbes doing their work and does not lead to sulfur and methane, the chemicals that make food rotting in landfills stink. The hot temperatures also deter wildlife.

Here you can see Aleks Jagiello, who manages an ASP facility in Westchester, explaining the process for us on a visit to the site in the spring of 2023.

Background

A growing number of residents have inquired about composting their food scraps. We are joining the leading edge of municipalities, including our neighbors to the north in Red Hook, in recognizing the benefits of compost programs.

  • March 1 - Dec 31, 2022: Village Compost, the Village of Rhinebeck’s municipal compost pilot. Enabled 100 households + 6 businesses to divert 2 tons of food scraps per month. CO2e reduced by 4 tons per month = 10 cars off the road!

  • January 2023: Village government gets two grants totaling $300,000 to construct a municipal composting facility at the Village Highway Department property. Compost process will be a special aerated static pile system (ASP), using the leaves and brush gathered through yard waste mulching and the equipment already on site. Village engineering firm, Tighe & Bond, created a proposal with an estimated budget.

  • February - present: Town Planning Board approval process. We presented to the Town Planning Board on March 6 (see materials here and here). Public hearing held on April 3 at Town Hall. The public hearing period extended to May 1 (County permit approved. Trustee Bertozzi’s update).

  • May 2023 - The Village Board withdraws its application before the Town Planning Board due to pushback from neighbors and the Town’s alignment with those neighbors. PDF of Trustee Bertozzi’s letter to the Town Planning Board.

  • August 2023 - The Village Board releases a Request for Proposals for farms located within 4miles of the Village Center to subcontract for municipal composting.

  • September 2023 - Trustee Bertozzi brings a vote to the Village Board to accept a proposal from Michael Decola of Ellerslie Stable to subcontract for composting

The Scrapped Village Highway Department Plan

Here you see a preliminary site plan from Tighe & Bond. The proposed compost facility would be located at the Village Highway Department property, with an entrance off of Violet Hill Rd. The site would be located next to the pre-existing mulch recycling operation.

The Village would sell the finished compost — much as it currently sells mulch — to offset the cost of operating the site.

Pilot Wrap Up Presentation

Check out the final presentation via the video or these slides.

Gather Your Scraps

Participants collected their household food scraps at home. We provide lidded buckets to those who needed them. Thank you to Williams Lumber for donating buckets and to our Compost Subcommittee who sourced used buckets so as not to add more plastic to the system!

We recommend lining your bucket with a pieces of newspaper or paper bag. Unfortunately, “compostable” bio bags are not permitted.

What comes after the pilot?

From our checkin survey, we found that only 7% wouldn’t want to continue if we extend the pilot or create a permanent program, 13% said Maybe, and 80% of participants gave a hearty Yes. Qualitatively, we have hear lots of positive support from participants, and we have received no complaints, except for the Police Department concerned about people driving oneway the wrong way into the drop-off location in the parking lot. Overall, the pilot has been a success, and it’s encouraged us to pursue making it a permanent program.

Get more background information on our composting efforts.

Watch this video about how the drop-off pilot worked

Thank you to Interact Club students, Greta LeHane and Josie Raccuia for making this video!

 

Drop-off

Participants dumped their food scraps at their convenience 24/7 at the collection site in the municipal parking lot behind the Police Station. The O Zone hauls to UCRRA once a week. We encouraged participants to check in with the QR code sign at the drop-off site to “Be Counted”.

Household Fee Structure

Upon acceptance to the pilot, each participating household was asked to register through The O Zone and pay a monthly subscription through the website.

  • Level One: $6/month (Household of 1)

  • Level Two: $8/month (Households of 2)

  • Level Three: $10/month (Households of 3 or 4)

  • Level Four: $12/month (Households of 5 or more )

For the pilot, the Village government paid a monthly fee, to enable this subsidized municipal rate you see above. This municipal rate is much less than if you were to do this independently.

Generous members of the community offered to sponsor-a-household in need.

Business Participants

Huge congratulations to our locally owned businesses who stepped up as leaders!

Business Fee Structure

Volume of food scraps vary, business to business. Village businesses are encouraged to contact The O Zone for help estimating the number of bins to fit their needs. You can also discuss logistics of bin placement and weekly curbside pickup. Check with The O Zone for their current commercial rates.

Pilot Elements

  • Duration: Food waste drop-off and collection happened from March 1 through December 31, 2022.

  • Drop-off model for households: Each household could receive a lidded bucket. As often as they wanted to, whenever they like, they would empty their bucket into a larger collection bin in the municipal parking lot behind the police department.

  • Curbside pickup for businesses: Village businesses contract with The O Zone independently for commercial rates, and partner with the Village on community engagement.

  • 3rd party partner: Our partner, The O Zone, did a weekly pick up and haul to UCRRA (Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency) for composting.

  • Payment: Each of the 100 households paid their monthly fee to our partner, The O Zone. The Village subsidized this pilot such that households paid a reduced municipal rate. Sponsorships were available to households in need.
    Participating businesses pay The O Zone’s commercial rate.

  • Closing the loop: Finished compost was available to participants on Collection Your Compost Days.

Amelia Legare, owner of The O Zone

About our Pilot Partner,
The O Zone

Amelia Legare owns and operates The O Zone, located in Red Hook. Described as a “low waste sustainability center,” The O Zone provides a variety of composting services in addition to other ways to reduce your household waste. Their retail location has bulk refill stations for soap, shampoo, olive oil, detergent, etc, as well as a variety of products that cut down on plastic. The O Zone also hosts workshops, classes, and other community programming.

The Village is happy to be supporting a local, woman-owned, green business.

 

If you already compost and want to stick with that, you’re awesome!

In our research, we heard from some residents, "Well, I’ve already been composting for 30 years, and so let this pilot be for someone who needs it more."

We believe there is value in gathering data about who is already composting for grants and other reports, as well as to create a space for seasoned and new composters to collaborate. Get in touch and let us know what you’re up to!

Online Info Sessions:

10am - 11am, Saturday, January 15, 2022

We hosted this online session about Village Compost and answered your questions. See recording here at right.

6pm - 7pm, Monday, January 31, 2022

Starr Library hosted an online info session.

FAQs

Don’t see your question answered here?
Please email: trusteebertozzi@villageofrhinebeckny.gov

  • If you're a Village resident who already composts at home or through some other method, and you prefer to continue with that—you're awesome! Please fill out the application, so we can track your impact on our collective carbon footprint as well.

    If you’re composting now, but would prefer to participate in the pilot, you’re welcome to apply.

  • We calculated that we are diverting about 2 tons of food scraps per month and reducing our CO2e by almost 4 tons per month. That’s equivalent to taking 10 cars off the road! This is according to the StopWaste Interactive Greenhouse Gas Calculator:

    https://www.stopwaste.org/at-work/reduce-and-reuse/recycling-business-waste/recycling-climate-protection/greenhouse-gas

  • Our composting partners (The O Zone and UCRRA) have told us that it simply takes too long for these new disposable products to break down. This creates real problems in their operation, so they’ve asked our pilot to refrain.

  • Sure, but it’s up to you to manage it. Only one of you will serve as the point person who fills out this application and pays the monthly fee.

  • Ideally, we have as close to full participation as possible. Going away on a trip here and there is fine. But if you’re planning on living away from the Village for a significant amount of time during the pilot, then please don’t apply. Give the spot to someone else! If this comes up during the pilot, please just let us know and we can work it out.

  • The drop-off location is centrally located in the municipal parking lot behind the Village Firehouse and Police Department.

  • One thing we know for sure, it is important for you to tightly shut the collection bins after you dump your bucket of scraps. The O Zone swaps the collection bins with clean ones during the weekly pick up. So far the odor hasn’t traveled, as long as the lids are closed.

  • We provide our 100 participating households with a 5-gallon lidded bucket. If you have a bucket you prefer to use, that’s fine.

    We do suggest that you line your bucket with recycled paper. This reduces goop and makes it easier to dump out your food waste, and quicker to clean.

    You will be responsible for cleaning your own bucket.

  • It’s true, the Village runs a curbside yard waste program for leaves and brush, which we then recycle into mulch. However, we do not offer this service year round, and there are certain other logistical challenges to offering curbside food waste pickup. It’s something we’ll continue to think about if the pilot is successful and if there’s public demand to scale up the program.

  • We will provide training for our participants, so you’ll know what you can include and what not.

    As for contamination from the general public, we plan to secure the collection bins in a way that prevents the public from wandering over and dumping in their waste.

  • The tiered payment model was developed by our partner, The O Zone, to reflect the proportional volume of food scraps typically produced.

    Usually, even larger households aren’t producing more than 5 gallons of food waste a week.

    The larger collection bins are accessible 24/7 to our 100 households. So you could dump your scraps more than once a week, if necessary.

  • The collection bins will be lidded.