A new partnership between the City of Fort Collins and local corporation Compost Queen is allowing residents and businesses, including Colorado State University students, to sustainably reduce food waste for as little as $5 per month.
In late September, the city launched a one-yearlong food waste composting pilot program aimed at reducing landfill waste, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and advancing Fort Collins’ zero waste and climate action plans.
The partnership will subsidize a composting service for up to 600 residents and 20 businesses. Funding will come from the city’s 10-cent disposable bag fee, which Compost Queen will match to support sustainability initiatives.
“Organic materials, including yard trimmings and food scraps, currently make up over 40% of what goes into the landfill,” said Jacob Castillo, the Fort Collins chief sustainability officer in a recent press release by Compost Queen. “We are hoping that through this effort and future activities to chip away at that number.”
The program allows new customers to enroll in drop-off composting for $5 per month or curbside collection for $10 per month. Businesses receive an $80 discount on their service bills per month for weekly 65-gallon carts. Compost Queen expects the pilot to divert more than 165 tons of organic material from the landfill, preventing an estimated 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, which is roughly equivalent to cutting 250,000 miles of car travel.
For students living off campus, the program offers a low-cost way to compost household food waste, which is not currently available through on-campus housing services. Compost Queen also partners with the Associated Students of Colorado State University to offer students a 20% discount on standard services using the code RoyalRamsCompost at checkout, though the discount does not apply to the pilot program.
“We offered this program to ASCSU to help with off-campus composting because it is against the policy for students to bring food waste from off campus or outside of the dining halls onto the composting infrastructure there,” said Max Poling, Compost Queen’s public benefit coordinator and hand of the queen. “The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (has) regulations and restrictions, meaning that you need a licensed facility if you are not generating the food waste on site.”
Poling said diverting food waste through composting facilities is a key part of addressing climate change.
“Organics produce methane in the landfill when they are anaerobically rotted,” Poling said. “Diverting food waste through composting facilities reduces total greenhouse gas emissions, retains local nutrients, builds local soils, helps improve local water retention and allows us to retain those resources here in Northern Colorado.”
Based in Fort Collins, Compost Queen is a woman-owned, public benefit corporation that operates the only compliant facilities for food recycling in Larimer County.
The company reports its diversion metrics annually to the state and provides curbside customers with personalized carbon impact reports, which show bCO2 equivalency and methane emission offsets based on collected weight.
“By expanding composting access through this pilot program, we’re taking a major step toward reducing landfill materials, cutting emissions and advancing Fort Collins’ Road to Zero Waste and Climate Action goals,” Compost Queen Founder Jamie Blanchard-Poling said in an interview with the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce.
Enrollment opened Sept. 25 and will continue until the program reaches capacity. Participants must be new Compost Queen customers and either live in or own a business within Fort Collins city limits. Food scrap recycling for selected participants will begin Oct. 13-24.
Accepted materials include meat, dairy, bones, produce, other food scraps and items that typically can’t be composted in yard waste programs. Compost Queen does not accept compostable packaging, service ware or manure.
Compost Queen marked the program’s launch with a community open house Oct. 7 at Ginger & Baker. The event featured remarks from Compost Queen, city officials and Ginger & Baker representatives, along with Q&A sessions and technical support for prospective participants.
Reach Maci Lesh at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
