City A2 Business and Recycling News--COMPOST Updates

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COMPOST PICKUPS FOR PARTICIPATING FOOD SERVICE LOCATIONS: Due to the usually warm weather in March, the municipal collection of compostables in the City of Ann Arbor will resume one week earlier than usual, starting Monday, March 26, 2012.  The compost program accepts yard trimmings including leaves, plants, garden debris, twigs, and branches up to six inches in diameter and four feet in length. Ann Arbor residents and business locations using optional compost carts may also place grass clippings; fruit and vegetable scraps; and uncoated paper plates, paper cups, and napkins inside compost carts for municipal collection.  Details on the compost collection program are posted online here. The press release is attached (pdf).BUSINESSES: If you wish to consider having your organic food prep materials--fruit and vegetable wastes--collected for composting through the city's free compost collection service, please contact Tom McMurtrie, tmcmurtrie@a2gov.org. There is a one-time $50 charge for the compost cart www.a2gov.org/carts.

COMPOST SALES INFORMATION: Spring Saturday hours at the Ann Arbor Compost Center, 4150 Platt Road are back for April, May, and June for bulk municipal compost,  mulch, and topsoil sales from 8 to noon in addition to year-round 8 to 4 weekday hours, 734. 489.4518.

ANN ARBOR RESIDENTS ONLY: Ann Arbor residents are eligible for two discounts and special offers starting in April from the 4150 Platt Road Compost Center facility:

1) Free self-loaded compost and mulch is available on Saturdays, April 7 through June 30, 2012 from 8 a.m. to noon, while supplies last. Residents stop by the scale house and provide proof of Ann Arbor residency and then are directed to the location of the free compost. Limit 6 bushels (or 1 cubic yard) per household/year.

2) Recyclebank coupon for one free cubic yard of compost or mulch with a compost or mulch purchase, while supplies last. Log online to Recyclebank and select the coupon to print at-home or call for a mailed coupon. Register for the free Recyclebank program at www.Recyclebank.com or phone 1.888.727.2978. The full press release is attached (pdf).

PENDING STATE LEGISLATION Ann Arbor City Council passed a resolution in support of the existing 1990 legislative ban on sending yard wastes to state landfills. This resolution is offered in response to bills passed recently in the state House of Representatives (HB 4265 and HB 4266 ) that would modify the ban on landfilling yard wastes. Ann Arbor’s resolution states that composting offers an environmentally sound, cost-effective, and decentralized method for managing yard clippings and other organic wastes, without the long-term impacts of landfill disposal. Michigan’s compost industry provides sustainable jobs and produces a valuable soil amending end-product used by farmers, landscapers, governments, and residents. In contrast, diverting yard waste to landfills to extract methane gas for fuel is inefficient and creates an irresponsible release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Press release is attached (pdf).

For more information on these and other topics, please consult this web page:

http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/fieldoperations/solidwasteunit/Pages/BusinessRecyclingandWasteNews.aspx