Composting Gets a Boost in the Mid-Atlantic

Siting composting facilities has been a real struggle in the Mid-Atlantic, but a new facility may turn the tables on years of inconsistent composting services in the region. Chesapeake Composting Works (CCW) began accepting material in October 2012 and is going strong less than a year later.

CCW works with local haulers to recover pre- and post-consumer food scraps from businesses such as Whole Foods and The Ritz Carlton, while landscapers and others provide chipped wood and ground yard waste. Great Forest staffer Christine McCoy, conducted a site visit recently.

The 54,000 square foot facility is in located Curtis Bay, Baltimore, a largely industrialized area of wharfs and warehouses. “Given the industrial nature of the area there is more tolerance for nuisances like truck traffic and odors,” says CCW owner and soil scientist Vinnie Bevivino.

Bevivino would like to develop additional products in the future, but currently he is most looking forward to the delivery of a new trammel screen which will help make the process of removing plastics and other contaminants quicker. It will allow them to turnover their product more quickly and help them ramp up operations to full capacity in the near future.

This new addition to the region’s sustainable materials management infrastructure and will allow more companies in the region to start composting programs which might produce further savings and to meet sustainability goals.

Interested in composting? Contact your Great Forest consultant or ask your sustainability officer.

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