Ethan Cantlin
10/22/15
Project Annotation 2
Landfill waste, especially food waste, is a huge issue all over the US. It became so bad, that the
State of California mandated that Los Angeles reduce its yearly landfill waste by half. In order to do this,
the city initiated a commercial composting program. While successful in halving the landfill waste, the
program created a host of problems. Commercialized composting creates an unknown product, as
consumers don’t know what went into the mix, condenses all chemicals and heavy metals into one
product, and may even contain sewage or sludge. Additionally, when this mix is put into gardens or for
other landscaping uses, all the chemicals and heavy metals then affect the plants, and whatever fruits
they may produce, either killing the plant or contaminating the portion we consume. “Leaves picked up
from city curbs and streets often contain oil and other automotive wastes. Pet and other animal
droppings can find their way into municipal compost and, unless allowed to gain high temperatures or
composted long enough, can carry pathogens into the product” (Vinje). Many of the things an
uneducated composter would place in a commercial composting bin would have harmful side effects on
the compost, especially if the system is just a larger scale backyard composting setup, instead of a
rotating drum. In cities especially, oil and gas residue is common on much of the lawn waste, something
many first-time composters readily throw into the compost bin. Additionally, many cities use
commercial composting as a way to manage sewage and sludge. “The addition of sewage sediments and
sludge…” harbor “everything from heavy metals to prescription drugs” (Vinje). The article continues to
describe what it sees as the issue that could cause the most problems: “garbage in, garbage out” (Vinje).
Because so many citizens are unaware and uneducated about how composting works and what can go
into compost, many will see it as another trash program, and end up putting almost anything in. In a
1993 study of compost programs in the UK found that of the 12 composts tested, all contained “physical
contaminants including glass, metal, and plastic. What does this mean for our project? It awakens us to
how vitally important proper education of composting is to a community. Before we can even think of
expanding a composting program to encompass the city, we first have to educate everyone on the
proper use of the compost system. We can use this article to justify introducing environmental
education programs in the Troy Public Schools, and include a composting segment, which would allow
for hands on education of young students who quickly make a habit of and internalize what they’re
taught. This article serves to illustrate what can, and will, go wrong with commercial composting, and
allows us to brainstorm and analyze the best way to manage and solve these problems in Troy.
Works Cited
Vinje, Eric. "Commercial Compost Problems | Planet Natural." Planet Natural. December 7, 2012.
Accessed October 22, 2015.