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One-stop composting coming to Shelter Island? You have nothing to lose but your banana peels

At its Monday, Jan. 27 meeting, the Town Board voted to support a grant application proposed by the Highway Department in partnership with Sylvester Manor for $14,000 to expand compost collection to the Town Recycling Center.

Currently the only place residents can drop off food scraps for recycling is at the Sylvester Manor Farmstand.

The proposed project, which would also include the Shelter Island School cafeteria as a partner, would create a drop-off point for food scraps at the same place residents bring the rest of their garbage. The application, made to the New York State Municipal Food Scraps Recycling Grant Program, requires a 25% match from the Town, which can be in the form of in-kind labor.

The closing of the Brookhaven landfill to construction debris this year, coupled with the announcement that in two years Brookhaven will stop taking the ash from the incinerator plants, signals that disposal of solid waste is about to get expensive for municipal governments on the East End, Superintendent of Highways Ken Lewis told the Board.

“We can save taxpayers money by getting the weight of food scraps out of the waste stream,” he added. “This is a great initiative and a great launching point for us.”

Mr. Lewis and Sylvester Manor Farm Manager Arielle Gardner are asking the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to support expanding the farm composting program at Sylvester Manor to enable compost dropoff bins at the Town Recycling Center, as well as the equipment needed to move the food scraps by truck.

According to Mr. Lewis, the project could be a game-changer in ongoing efforts to reduce the volume of the Town’s solid waste, which taxpayers must pay to have removed, currently costing approximately $182 a ton. Mr. Lewis and Ms. Gardner estimate the program they propose would divert at least 1,000 pounds of food scraps a week, or take 52,000 pounds in the first year out of the waste stream. 

The expansion of composting could also save money by reducing the size and number of Town bags residents must purchase, costs that range from $1.75 to $5.25 per bag.

The project would also have the environmental benefits associated with transporting and burning less solid waste. “Any time you are reducing the waste stream, finding cost savings and you are doing something for the environment, it’s good,” Mr. Lewis said.

The project would add two new streams of food scraps to be processed at Sylvester Manor, one from the Recycling Center and the other from the school cafeteria. All the collected scraps, including those dropped off at Sylvester Manor, would be processed into high-quality compost to be used on the Sylvester Manor Farm property, and sold at the Recycling Center.

As the cost of handling the Island’s garbage increases, and alternatives shrink, Mr. Lewis was looking for ways to reduce the solid waste stream when Ms. Gardner made him aware of the grant opportunity. In spite of a tight turnaround on the application, which was due by the end of January, Mr. Lewis agreed to put together a plan.

“Jen [Messiano, the Town’s grant consultant] got right on it, and here we are,” he said. “The school is going to contribute food scraps from the cafeteria, so it’s a three-way connection, and the kids are going to learn about composting.”

“In such a small community, we all have to help each other out,” Mr. Lewis added. “This helps the Manor a bit, educates the kids on composting and reduces the burden on taxpayers; it’s good all around.”