West Asheville gets free compost drop-off site, more to come in Buncombe County

ASHEVILLE - Achievements are piling up for a fledgling environmental initiative designed to take food scraps off residents’ hands.

In September 2021, Buncombe County and the city of Asheville introduced the Food Scraps Drop Off, a countywide residential composting program that’s reported to have diverted waste from the county’s landfill, thereby decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

There have been “bumps in the road” regarding logistics, which was expected for the pilot program, but overall, it’s been met with enthusiasm by residents, city and county staff and the wider community, city Sustainability Program Manager Kiera Bulan said in an email.

“Many people have expressed gratitude for the opportunity to divert their organics,” Bulan said. “Some because they do not have access to backyard composting, others to supplement their backyard composting by taking items like dairy and meat to an alternate location.”

The program has continued to develop to meet demand with more expansion plans underway as it enters its second year.

Food Scraps Drop Off is open to Buncombe County residents to drop off food scraps from carrot peels to apple cores to chicken bones.

Select items including pizza boxes/greasy cardboard and shredded paper are accepted but recycling is encouraged if possible. Bulan noted that event or commercial organics are not permitted.

By November, an estimated 110 tons of compostable material was reported to have been collected from the four established sites at Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, Buncombe County Landfill, Murphy Oakley Recreation Center/Library and the most recent addition, the West Asheville Library, according to Bulan.

“While this is an exciting first year, we do know that this total of organics diverted is still just a fraction of the estimated organics going to our landfills each year,” Bulan said.

Danny’s Dumpster, a compost and recycling hauling service, regularly picks up and hauls the food waste collections to its facility for processing.

More:Bears, composting and Asheville's solution to 1,000 of pounds of weekly food waste

Although the service is free, residents are required to sign up, after which further instructions are provided for accessing the community compost bins. Residents may receive a free compost bin ideal for a kitchen countertop or under-the-sink cabinet storage, while supplies last.

Nearly 3,400 individuals are reported to be enrolled, including those new to composting and others with existing composting systems but use the city/county’s program to compost more and different items, Bulan said.

“When the first pilot location (Stephens-Lee) opened, we saw an almost-overwhelming amount of registrants (about 500),” Buncombe County Solid Waste – Recycling Coordinator Cassandra Lohmeyer said in an email. “In the year since the program’s inception, we’ve seen that number steadily increase to about 1,700. It’s important to differentiate that registrants doesn’t equal participants, many registrants who are participating in the program are households with more than one family member. We make sure to get data like this by asking questions in our registration process, and it helps guide the evolution of the program.”

Still, there is more that can be done.

In just more than a year, data has shown increased use of the service, motivating an expansion plan to reach more neighborhoods by providing additional drop-off sites.

“While we're excited to be working with so many residents we know that there are still many folks who don’t know about the program and/or for whom the existing sites are not convenient,” Bulan said. “Our hope is to bring the opportunity to neighborhoods and embed in places where people are already frequenting (recreation centers [and] libraries) to encourage the diversion of food scraps to become another easy way to make a difference.”

Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) technical and financial support made it possible for the launch of the initiative. And with the county's participation, the program received support for expansion sites in 2022-23 through a grant from the N.C. Department of Environment and Customer Services, Bulan said.

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, the pilot location at 30 Washington Carver Ave. funded by an NRDC Food Matters grant, has collected more than 102,650 pounds or 51 tons in its compost shed since it opened in September 2021.

The Buncombe County Landfill, 85 Panther Branch Road in Alexander, was added soon after and has taken in more than 3,420 pounds or 1.21 tons that were then sent to the compost facility.

In July, Murphy Oakley Recreation Center/Library’s compost station, also funded by the Food Matters grant, opened at 749 Fairview Road and is reported to have collected an estimated 6600 pounds or 3.3 tons of food waste in two months.

In September, West Asheville Library’s compost station made its debut at 942 Haywood Road, funded by an N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Community Waste Reduction and Recycling grant.

Three additional food scrap drop-off sites are slated to open across the county. Residents can receive updates and announcements by following @buncomberecycles on Instagram and the city and county websites, https://www.ashevillenc.gov/service/backyard-composting/ and www.buncombecounty.org/composting.

The websites provide guidelines for determining what can and cannot be composted, the benefits of composting, an online program registration form and more.

In celebration of the compost program’s anniversary, Buncombe County Solid Waste and the city of Asheville will host a free, family-friendly event for the public from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 5 at Lucy S. Herring Elementary School Garden, 98 Sulphur Springs Road in Asheville. The garden is accessible from Harnett Street.

Attendees may receive free compost (bring your own pail) and kitchen totes for home food waste collection. Composting demonstrations will be performed, and educational information and handouts will be available.

Kids’ activities and free snacks will be a part of the celebration, too.

Guests are requested to RSVP for free at www.buncombecounty.org/composting.

Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: West Asheville gets free compost drop-off site, more to come