FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 09/15/2023 Contact: Jennifer Jordan, Superintendent of Resource Management Phone: 319-887-6160
Iowa City Landfill receives $4 million grant from EPA to expand composting efforts
The Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center has received a $4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help expand the City's composting efforts.
This grant funding will allow Iowa City to broaden accessibility to composting programs and increase capacity of how much organic material the local compost facility is able to process each year. The funds will expand the physical footprint of the compost area at the Landfill from five to about seven acres, and increase efficiency with improved equipment and technology.
The funds come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed by Congress and the Biden Administration in 2021.
The Iowa City Landfill oversees one of the only large-scale composting facilities in Iowa that processes food waste. Curbside compost collection began for Iowa City in 2017. Since then, composting rates have continued to climb. Still, 20% of waste that enters the landfill is food waste that could have been composted. That results in about 27,000 tons of food waste not being composted.
Iowa City will use these funds to expand its existing compost facility by building on current programs and increasing processing capacity from 15,000 to 20,000 tons per year. That compost will then be used to help fertilize area farms, gardens, and lawns in a sustainable and hyper-local way.
This expansion will increase landfill diversion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and allow more residents within the service area to use composting services. Customers include Johnson County and the towns of Kalona and Riverside in Iowa.
“The City of Iowa City is honored to receive this significant infrastructure award from the Investing in America program,” shared City Manager Geoff Fruin. “These funds will enable us to expand and modernize our existing compost facility to better meet the future needs of our growing community. This grant award clearly demonstrates our shared commitment with the federal government toward waste reduction and climate action in ways that add value to the public.”
“Reducing waste is one very important step we can take to fight the climate crisis and ensure environmental justice in our Heartland communities,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this funding will help our region’s states reduce gases like methane by diverting waste from landfills. These funds will also ensure that our overburdened communities get the resources needed for a cleaner and healthier environment for all.”
Design for the Landfill's expanded composting facility and programs will begin this fall, with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2024.
