UMB community members and Baltimore residents will have two weekly opportunities to compost their food scraps at the SMC Campus Center or the Community Engagement Center.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Office of Sustainability is pleased to announce that a Community Composting Drop-Off pilot program will begin in September. The drop-off sites are located at the SMC Campus Center and Community Engagement Center and will provide UMB students, staff, and faculty, as well as any resident of Baltimore, with two weekly opportunities to compost their food scraps.
The development of this composting pilot program aligns with UMB’s commitment to the core values of Well-Being and Sustainability. Composting is a natural process that gives organic matter back to the Earth. It addresses climate change by filtering stormwater pollutants, converting food nutrients into amendments used to build soil health, diverting food from landfills and incineration, and storing carbon in the soil. Composting in urban environments can be difficult, so it’s vital to increase compost drop-off opportunities for the UMB and Baltimore communities.
(Watch video below or at this link.)
UMB, Loyola University, and Johns Hopkins University community composting programs are being funded through a Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreement awarded to the Baltimore City Department of Public Works by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This initiative was developed in response to the comprehensive Baltimore Food Waste & Recovery Strategy, which addresses the growing problems of food waste, food insecurity, and food waste management in Baltimore City.
What Is Compost and Why Does It Matter?
Composting is a decomposition process that converts organic matter into nutrient-rich soil amendment (aka compost) or mulch. A balance of water, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen inputs provides the perfect environment for microorganisms to quickly break down compostable materials like food scraps, paper/cardboard, and yard trimmings. Fifty percent of municipal garbage collected is compostable and ends up in landfills or is incinerated. These methods of waste management release methane and carbon dioxide gas into the environment, which both contribute to global warming.
The Wheelabrator Baltimore waste incinerator burns 2,250 tons of waste per day. The Maryland Department of the Environment’s 2017 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory reported a release of 640,664 tons of carbon dioxide by Wheelabrator that year.
Adverse health outcomes (i.e., asthma, lung and heart disease, cancer, and birth defects) have been linked to the air pollution caused by waste incinerators. The negative health effects caused by heavy pollution are compounded for marginalized communities of color who live in closest proximity to the Wheelabrator, a local illustration of environmental racism.
Wheelabrator receives 90 percent of its waste from Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Composting keeps organic waste away from incinerators and landfills and reduces the overall amount of waste processed at these facilities, thereby also reducing air pollution throughout Baltimore City. To protect Baltimore City from harmful emissions, composting is essential to reducing citywide dependence on the incinerator.
Where Does UMB Community Compost Go?
Compost collected at the UMB drop-off sites will be processed by the business Compost Crew, based in Rockville, Md. The company was founded in 2011 with goals of “recovering compostable waste, reducing dependence on landfills and incinerators, and revitalizing our soils.”
Some food scraps and compostable materials are processed at commercial facilities like the Prince George’s County Organics Compost Facility and the Balls Ford Road Composting Facility in Manassas, Va. In Prince George’s County, materials are turned into humus and sold as a soil amendment called Leafgro. Revenue from Leafgro sales is returned to the county to offset the cost of the composting operation. In Virginia, material is turned into Grow Good Compost, which can be purchased in bulk or bagged quantities. Since 2020, Compost Crew has launched several Compost Outposts, which are decentralized on-farm composting sites that provide valuable nutrients directly to local food production.
Check the Office of Sustainability’s website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for up-to-date information about this new initiative. We also encourage you to join our monthly newsletter.
Pilot Locations (Opening September 2023)
Community Engagement Center
16 S. Poppleton St.
Wednesdays, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
SMC Campus Center
621 W. Lombard St.
Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Materials Accepted
Fruit and vegetable scraps (cores, rinds, pits), tea leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells, grass clippings, weeds, flowers/herbs
Materials Not Accepted
Plastic, metals, dryer lint, plastic-lined paper products, pet waste, produce packaging (i.e., stickers, rubber)