CITY SEEKING APPLICANTS FOR CURBSIDE COMPOSTING TASK FORCE

SOMERVILLE
– Furthering its commitment to sustainability and best practices surrounding
trash and recycling policies, the City of Somerville announces its newest task
force to review feasibility and implementation options for a Curbside Composting
Initiative. Announced this week by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and to be co-Chaired
by Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, who is the Vice Chairperson of the Board of
Aldermen’s Committee on Energy and Environment, the Curbside Composting Task
Force is currently seeking applicants from the Somerville community.

The
Task Force will be commissioned to research best practices for curbside
composting, and provide recommendations on implementation in Somerville,
including rollout, storage and disposal policies, and general regulations. The
Task Force will consist of up to 9 members. Interested community members should
submit a letter of intent to the Office of Sustainability and Environment care
of Jackie Rossetti, along with a current resume or short personal statement
detailing their interest and applicable skills or knowledge. Please email JRossetti@somervillema.gov or mail
information to OSE c/o Jackie Rossetti, City Hall, 93 Highland Ave.,
Somerville, MA 02143. The deadline for applications is Monday, March 24.

“We
are committed to a healthy, sustainable, and environmentally friendly City and
we are also committed to seeking smart cost-savings, and curbside composting
can help us reach both of those goals,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “In
addition to our Zero-Sort Recycling program, which has dramatically increased
recycling rates across the City, we are now looking to institute a community-wide
Curbside Composting program that will increase trash diversion options for
residents while lowering solid waste disposal costs to the City and its
taxpayers. We also want to be sure this program emulates the needs and opinions
of the community at large, which is why we have convened a task force to
examine this program.”

“This
initiative is truly one that has risen up from the community. I’ve been hearing
for some time now from constituents who want us to find a better way than
simply sending our food scraps to a landfill or incinerator,” said Alderman
Gewirtz. “I’m eager to get to work with the task force to examine how best to
integrate curbside composting into our recycling program so that we can both
make use of this resource and reduce our solid waste costs.”

Based
on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, the Somerville Office of
Sustainability and Environment estimates that approximately 25% of Municipal
Solid Waste in Somerville, after recycling is removed, consists of food waste.
By weight, that’s 5,200 tons of food waste (10.4 million pounds) generated
annually in Somerville, or roughly 130 pounds per person, at a total cost of roughly
$750,000 per year for removal and disposal. Cities that have introduced composting
programs across the country have demonstrated significant decreases in trash tonnage.
Over a several month review period, the Task Force will examine these
statistics as well as best practices for curbside composting to determine how a
similar program might best benefit Somerville.

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Contact:

Denise Taylor 617-625-6600, ext. 2103