Food-scrap recycling considered

By Denise Dick

The township administrator is researching the system for costs.

BOARDMAN — Administrator Jason Loree is looking for ways to green up the township.

He is researching a not-for-profit food composting site that may qualify for funding through the portion of President Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package aimed at green job creation.

“We could collect food from restaurants in the township, process it into a fertilizer and sell it,” Loree said.

He spoke with Jim Petuch, director of the Mahoning County Division of Recycling and Reuse, about recycling needs and Petuch suggested the food composting site.

“What we’re not doing enough of is food recycling,” Petuch said.

Petuch directed Loree to Dan Kuzma, who heads Youngstown State University’s Recycling program.

The YSU program was awarded a Green Team grant in 2006 to begin food waste composting. “Since 2006, we’ve diverted about 8 tons of food waste from landfills,” Kuzma said.

Students and staff who eat at Christman Dining Hall empty their food scraps in the designated containers. Recycling staff empty the container in the morning.

The scraps, excluding meat and dairy products, is placed into a vessel called an Earth Tub. The tub, which has a 3-cubic-yard capacity and receives about 100 pounds of food waste per day from the dining hall, is emptied once a month. The contents cure for six months to a year, and the finished product is used by the university’s grounds department, the program’s Web site said.

The township’s facility would be on a much larger scale, Kuzma said, and he referred Loree to other entities and organizations that might be able to provide additional input. “The green industry is the way to go for the future,” Petuch said.

If the township can secure the funding and get the project up and running, it would be the first facility of its kind in ‚ÇNortheast Ohio, Loree said.

He’s still researching to determine start-up and operation costs but envisions a system that would pay for itself.

The finished compost, a high-grade fertilizer, could be sold to farmers, vineyards and at-home gardeners.

That revenue would operate the facility, Loree said.

Larry Moliterno, township trustees chairman, said he wants to meet with the administrator to get more details on the idea.

“I’m happy that Jason is staying on top of this and taking advantage of the stimulus package and whatever is out there,” he said.