Last Garbage Cart Exchange Day in State College, Compost Program Underway

The new State College Refuse and Organic Material Collection Program is now five weeks old and the borough says it’s been a successful launch.

One small readjustment has been needed. Some borough residents ordered trash carts that were the wrong size for their needs.

All this week, borough workers have been exchanging those carts at area parks. You can still exchange your carts on Friday, from 3:30 to 7:30 at  Holmes Foster Park. Over 100 carts have been picked up or exchanged for different sizes so far.

Borough residents can also call and arrange for a curbside exchange.

The new program came out of necessity, with food scraps being classified as compost, according to the borough’s Public Service Manager Ed Holmes. At the end of March, borough workers distributed over 2,600 organic carts to property owners for compost materials. Previously, compost was just left at the curb in cluttered piles and collected by hand.

“Since 2007 we’ve had a separate organic collection but it was just pile it at the curb,” said Holmes. “It took two people with pitchforks – it was a hand based collection program and took a long time. When we added food scraps to the program we had to move it to containers.”

Although composting is not required, the borough offers 35, 65 and 95-gallon carts for residents to use to collect organic materials (food scraps, lawn clippings, etc.). Under the new program, residents can now put their compost in the cart alongside the weekly garbage to be collected by a truck, which uses a robotic arm to pick up the waste.

“We have a lot of backyard composters in the borough and we do not require participation in the organic program,” said Holmes. “If you have shrubbery that you trim or food scraps from your kitchen it goes into the cart. The idea of the program is to divert as much organic material as we can from the landfill. Landfill space is scarce, expensive and it’s just not the best option for getting rid of organic material.”

The organic material will then be composted and travel to the landfill behind Wegman’s on N. Atherton St. That facility is now permitted to take food scraps, according to Holmes.

“For 30 years there has been a composting facility. That facility is now permitted to take food scraps,” said Holmes. “We take all the material that comes in this collection. We mix it with the leaves, put it through a grinder and really thoroughly mix everything and then we compost it.”

The borough believes that the program will pay for itself in time. According to Holmes, six to eight years is a reasonable estimate for the program to become cost effective if the borough is ultimately able to compost 1,100 tons per year, which is the goal.

“Ultimately, the program will be less expensive to operate than the old way,” said Holmes. “By going with the cart and the automated collection process, less vehicles and less labor hours are involved in the collection.” Holmes also cited less tipping fees for the landfill and a “small revenue stream” when the borough sells the compost as cost benefits.

Holmes says the new program has been well-received and gone off with few complications.

“The biggest source of confusion so far is in rental properties,” said Holmes. “Landlords got the information and didn’t inform the tenants. It took them by surprise.”