The nation’s composting infrastructure will increase by 2015 when a new facility opens in Maryland, with plans for more in Freeport, Massachusetts and Northern New Jersey.
The Peninsula Compost Group announced last month that they are building a new commercial composting facility in Prince George County, Maryland. Located in an old gravel pit, it will be sized to accept 400 tons of food scraps and yard trimmings per day, or 100,000 tons per year.
This will increase composting capacity in the Mid-Atlantic region, which currently has only two facilities that will take commercial food scraps – Chesapeake Composting, which began accepting material only a year ago, and the Peninsula Compost Group’s existing facility in Delaware.
Investment in the new Maryland facility follows Peninsula’s announcement that they are partnering with the nation’s largest waste management company, Waste Management, Inc., to expand their operations.
Complimenting the addition of the new facility is the emergence of several new food scrap haulers, including The Compost Crew, which offers both residential and commercial pick-up of food scraps from customers in Maryland, with plans to expand these services region-wide.
According to the company’s co-founder Ryan Walter, “by providing the best customer service possible, The Compost Crew has been able to sign-up and retain customers dedicated to diverting their food scraps from disposal.”