WIN Waste grant money to jump start pilot curbside composting program

By Barbara Taormina

The city is inching closer to launching a pilot curbside composting program.

The City Council approved an ordinance for composting which will begin with a $25,000 grant from WIN Waste. The money will be used to buy 1,000 sealable containers for residents who enroll in the composting program. Residents will pay a small annual fee and compost will be picked up weekly like other waste. The ordinance calls for investing $25,000 a year from a mix of city funds, mitigation monies and grants.

According to Chief of Planning and Community Development, Tom Skwierawski, the composting program, which is expected to save millions of dollars by diverting 30 percent of the city’s waste from the traditional waste stream, will grow year after year with the help of federal and state grants from the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Funds will initially be used to enroll seniors, low-income households, vets and others in need in the composting program. The goal is to eventually have totally subsidized composting.

The city intends to have an equal number of participants from each ward enrolled in composting.

Councillor-At-Large Marc Silvestri raised the issue of rodents, but Skwierawski said the sealed containers may actually help reduce the city’s growing rat population.

Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya proposed an amendment to start the program at Revere High School where it can be used as an educational tool.

Skwierawski said the city is ready with a request for proposals from waste haulers. The more residents who enroll in the composting program, the less the cost will be per household.

The city will establish a revolving fund for any money saved through composting. The fund will be used to improve and expand curbside composting throughout Revere.