O2Compost SOQ Comprehensive

ULSTER COUNTY RESOURCE RECOVERY AGENCY Board Members Staff Members Leon Smith, Chairman Catherine Nilsen, Vice Chairman Albert Teetsel, Treasurer Charles Landi, Member Dominic Tagliafierro, Member Timothy DeGraff, CPA, Controller Charles Whittaker, Operations Manager Thomas Briggs, Compliance Officer Michelle Bergkamp, Recycling Coordinator ucrra@ucrra.org www.ucrra.org Executive Director TIMOTHY B. ROSE, P.E. 999 Flatbush Road P.O. Box 6219 Kingston, NY 12402 (845) 336-0600 Phone (845) 336-4129 Fax April 8, 2014 O2Compost Peter Moon, P.E. PO Box 1026 Snohomish WA 98291 To Whom It Many Concern: Organics diversion is the cornerstone of our waste diversion effort at the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency. Last year, Ulster County generated over 160,000 tons of municipal solid waste that was transported to landfills for disposal near Syracuse, New York, 250 miles away. At a time when many recycling programs have hit a plateau, like that of Ulster County, food waste is commonly the next segment of the solid waste stream to be tapped for diversion. According to the EPA, food waste accounts for an estimated 12.5 percent of the municipal solid waste stream nationwide. Food waste diversion therefore was the next logical step towards increasing the County’s overall waste diversion. Peter Moon and his company O2Compost were essential in both the development and the success of the County’s new organics diversion initiative. We first learned about O2Compost from working with our counterpart in central New York, the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA), who also worked with O2Compost. OCRRA recently completed a pilot test program utilizing aerated static piles to compost green waste and pre-consumer food waste with excellent results. Since the inception of the OCRRA pilot composting program in 2007; the staff perfected their processing method and marketing strategies and most importantly, created a quality, stable compost product for the community. The OCRRA program achieved maximum system throughput of their large-scale pilot project and has recently completed construction of a full-scale composting facility utilizing the same method, extended aerated static pile composting.