The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has been awarded $65,638 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utility Services Solid Waste Management Grant Program, to implement food waste, organics, and manure management in rural Maryland communities.
The goal of the project is to assist rural communities to improve solid waste planning and management, leading to reductions in solid waste generation and water pollution. Stakeholders in the Maryland counties of Allegany and Cecil will be engaged to implement best management practices for food waste reduction, organics, and manure management. Through webinars and outreach, the project will benefit other regions of Maryland, as well as the Northeast and the country.
The project will engage citizens, students, business and non-profit representatives, town staff/transfer station employees, civic leaders and others in education, training, and outreach. The technical assistance and trainings offered by the project will incorporate a number of innovative techniques, such as citizen scientist recruitment and training. The project will further support rural economies by identifying ways to reduce and manage food waste cost-effectively within the community. Exploring opportunities for stimulating local economies, through the use and marketing of compost products, will also be addressed.
NERC will work with the participant counties, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and other project partners, to:
•Develop best management practices and resources for planning, implementing, and promoting food waste reduction, organics, and/or manure management;
•Provide project-centered regional training sessions for a wide range of stakeholders;
•Deliver on-site technical assistance to participant communities with the goal of implementing sustainable projects in at least five of the communities. The projects will implement and/or expand food waste reduction and recovery programs, organics reduction and composting, and/or manure best management practices; and
•Deliver two project-related national webinars, including Maryland-based case studies and models for success.
Published in the December 2017 Edition of American Recycler News