Feed The Green Bin Program Expands Reach To More Howard County Homes

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The Feed the Green Bin program, Howard County’s free composting service provided for the past 10 years to eligible residents, will be expanding its reach.

“Our Feed the Green Bin curbside food waste pickup program is a valuable tool in the county’s efforts to fight climate change. Since its launch in 2013, the program has diverted over 3,000 tons of food scraps from households. In 2022 alone, we recaptured over 400 tons of organic waste,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “We understand that small actions to reduce our environmental footprint make a big difference. This program empowers Howard County residents to be part of our collective fight for our environment and energy independence.”

The expansion includes 6,330 homes in the following areas: King’s Contrivance, Cherry Tree Park, Emerson, Hammond Village, Hunters Creek Farm, Jamestown Landing, North Laurel, Reservoir Overlook, Twin Oaks, Warfields Range, Wellington Farm and Wincopia Farms. With this expansion, 59 percent of all households in the county will now have access to the free Feed the Green Bin program.

“Residents all over Kings Contrivance worked together to gather community support for the Green Bin,” said Howard County Council Chair Christiana Rigby. “Some neighbors made fliers and door hangers while others held house parties to demystify composting. I am so excited that our composting services will be expanded as a result of this community-led effort.”

Organic waste makes up roughly 30 percent of the local solid waste stream. Diversion of food waste from decomposition in landfills reduces methane emissions, which have 25 times the global warming impactful of carbon dioxide, Ball noted.

“As humans, we are an integral part of ecosystems. With Green Bin expansion, organic composting allows each of us to positively impact the known and unknown consequences of temperature rise,” said Pearl Seidman, King’s Contrivance resident and environmental advocate. “It is clear County Executive Ball and the department of public works’ priorities to fight climate change are aligned with our community. They heard our requests for Green Bin service and made it a reality.”

Since its launch in 2013, the program has diverted more than 3,000 tons of food scraps from households. Today, the Feed the Green Bin program includes 37,652 eligible households. Of that number, about 18,000 households, or 48 percent participate in the program.

Food scraps are collected by the department of public works from green bins and brought to Alpha Ridge landfill for processing. The waste is blended into organic matter to create compost that is then offered to public and private customers for application on their property.

“Composting is an important strategy in our collective fight against climate change,” said Mark DeLuca, chief of the department of public works bureau of environmental services. “This expansion of curbside food waste collection creates the opportunity for more county residents to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the completion of our new organics receiving building will support the continued growth of our composting capacity.”

To further accommodate the expanded routes and ensure regulatory compliance of the growing program, the department of public works recently completed construction of a new Organics Receiving Building at Alpha Ridge Landfill. Ball and partners cut the ribbon on the 34,720-square-foot building Tuesday, which represents a $5.6 million county investment.

Residents in the newly covered areas will receive their green bins during the week of Nov. 13. Collections services will begin immediately. Interested residents will receive two postcards with instruction on how to sign up.