Contact Pacific Southwest Waste Program
Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Solid Waste Projects
Resource Conservation Fund
Organics and Composting
Center for Environmental Economic Development, Arcata, CA FY 2002, $25,000
Rural Organics Recycling Board
This grant focused on increasing the collection of organic material in rural areas by increasing the marketing of locally composted commercial organic materials. These goals were accomplished by increasing the collection of organic materials though small-scale drop-off sites, maximizing the quality and value of compost products by providing technical assistance to meet compliance standards, increasing the demand for locally produced compost through marketing, and creating a county-wide Organics Recycling Board. The project was promoted and publicized through a Commercial Compost Toolkit that was developed at the completion of this project and distributed regionally and nationally.
To view this document, see the Center for Environmental Economic Development Website 
Contact: Adrienne Priselac (priselac.adrienne@epa.gov), 415-972-3285
Sustainable Conservation, San Francisco, CA. FY 2003. $29,000 Agriculture and Municipal Cooperation in Co-Composting Green Waste with Animal Manure
Dairy manure in California's Central Valley is a major environmental challenge due to potential groundwater contamination. This can be ameliorated by the composting of manure which produces a soil amendment that is free of pathogens, weed seeds and odors. However, composting is not commonly practiced to manage manure due to space concerns, low marketability and lack of technical assistance. This grant aimed to increase manure composting by co-composting the manure with green waste. The addition of green waste created a nutrient rich product which yielded a higher price for the compost making it economically feasible. The grant partners worked with local farmers and waste officials to increase technical knowledge and explore permitting regulations. The project concluded that co-composting manure with green waste is economically profitable in areas where dairies and waste processing facilities are in close proximity to one another.
For more information or to see the Project Final Report please see the Sustainable Conservation Website
Contact: Adrienne Priselac (priselac.adrienne@epa.gov), 415-972-3285
City of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA. FY2000. $15,000
Co-Composting Project
The purpose of this grant was to research the marketability of co-compost produced by combining urban green waste and turkey manure. The urban green waste was added to the manure as a bulking agent in an effort to enhance the efficiency of decomposition. The resulting product produced through co-composting was tested to determine marketability to possible end users. Possible end users included home gardeners, landscapers and agriculture markets. The need for this project was based on two factors; urban green waste will continue to be generated and collected by local jurisdictions as necessary to comply with state waste reduction mandates, and manure generated by agriculture is either land applied or treated as a waste material which does not contribute to waste reduction. Each partner in the project contributed to the successful coordination of material delivery, blending, and composting.
For more information on the:- City of Sacramento's Composting Guide (PDF) (21 pp, 1.1MB)
- City of Sacramento's Green Waste Collection Programs