Yard Waste: Makeup and Amount

West Virginia law defines yard waste as being "...grass clippings, weeds, brush, garden waste, shrub or tree prunings and other living or dead plant issues ...[unless]... inadvertent contamination or mixture with other substances...render the waste unsuitable for composting..."¹ This established the intent of the law, which is for yard waste to be composted so that it may be usefully recycled as an organic soil amendment.

In rural areas, such as much of West Virginia, yard waste is generally returned to the soil either through backyard composting, or by default by leaving it in place to decompose informally. This process mimics what happens in "nature," in that plant nutrients are re-circulated through successive cycles of growth and decay while maintaining the soil’s organic content.

In built-up areas, however, yard waste needs to be managed deliberately. For cities with substantial residential and suburban areas, such as Wheeling (population 33,000), a generally accepted estimate is that yard waste makes up around 16% of the overall, yearly waste collected at curbside ². In the spring and fall when grass clippings and leaves appear in great amount, yard waste can comprise as much as half of the overall collection.

Traditionally, a large proportion of urban/suburban yard waste is collected separately, rather than being mixed with other household wastes ("garbage or trash"). Source-separated yard waste may be picked up at curbside, particularly in October and November, with a special vacuum machine or a dump truck and front-end loader along with manual raking and sweeping. Some communities require yard waste to be bagged separately from other waste fractions.

Unlike mixed garbage or sewage sludge, separately collected yard waste can be composted effectively through simple, low cost, methodologies ³. Essentially, given a suitable site, the major steps may be as follows.

u Water is added, if needed, and, using a front-end loader, the material is formed into windrows approximately 6 feet high by 12 feet wide. Windrow length depends on site configuration.

u One to two months later (late fall-early winter), two windrows are combined into one. This steers a middle course between the need to allow air to penetrate the mass, and the need to conserve heat (generated through microbial action) over the winter.

u Once more over the processing cycle, the material is agitated ("turned").

Over the course of 12-16 months, the material is transformed, through the action of indigenous, beneficial, microbes, to earthy, stabilized, compost. For every ton of yard waste received, about half a ton of compost is produced. Depending on circumstances, a less intensive (slower transformation), or a more intensive (faster transformation), processing strategy may be adopted.

Compost derived from mixed garbage, and especially from sewage sludge, may contain pathogenic, disease-causing, organisms, and potentially harmful levels of heavy metals. Yard waste cannot be said to be invariably free of such problems as, for example, with leaves spending time underneath a car with a leaky crankcase. But in general compost derived from yard waste need not be suspect and may be considered safe for use in the most sensitive of applications, as in the vegetable garden.

Thus, there are two good reasons to manage yard waste separately from other wastes. One concerns the process (composting), in that simple, economical, technologies may be employed. The other reason concerns the product (compost), which is generally safe for unrestricted use.

To understand the present situation it is necessary to wade through a legislative and regulatory labyrinth -- at least in abbreviated form.

The West Virginia Recycling Act of 1989, as amended in 1991, prohibited the disposal of yard waste in landfills, while mandating the composting of this fraction of the waste stream. Originally the ban was to take effect on 1 January 1992, but the legislature subsequently extended the deadline, first until 1 June 1994, then till 1 January 1996, and finally till 1 January 1997. This law states: "...it shall be unlawful to deposit yard waste, including grass clippings and leaves, in a solid waste facility in West Virginia; Provided, That such prohibitions do not apply to a facility designed specifically to compost such yard waste..."4 . But in the next breath this same law introduces a significant loophole: "...Provided, however, That reasonable and necessary exceptions to such prohibitions may be included as part of the rules promulgated..."[by the Division of Environmental Protection (DEP)]. The law then goes on to limit, at least by intention, the size of the loophole: "...Disposal in a ...landfill...will involve only small quantities of domestic yard waste..."5

The rule subsequently promulgated by the DEP merely indicates that the Director has the authority to determine whether there are "...reasonable and necessary..." mitigating circumstances 6. The operative document is the Director’s Policy Statement, addressed to Landfill Operators, Composting Facilities, Solid Waste Authorities, Solid Waste Haulers, and Municipalities 7. In it he first notes that the composting "...option..." is not always practical, hence yard waste may be landfilled. Then the recipients of the letter "...are strongly encouraged to seek out and utilize yard waste composting facilities." What is omitted from this statement is any directive, or even explicit encouragement, to develop yard waste composting facilities. Since existing facilities are few and far between, the Director’s letter could be interpreted as a license to continue the old way of doing business. As will be shown, this was the effect in the city of Wheeling.

Yet, legislation specifically encourages the development of composting facilities that accept yard waste "free-of-charge."8 This section of the law pertains, for example, to proposals by municipalities to develop facilities intended solely for their own use (no fees collected). Such facilities are exempt from the usual, often

lengthy 9, regulatory permitting process. Provided that a proposed facility conforms to the particular county Solid Waste Authority’s overall plan and to the siting and operating requirements of 33CSR3, and did not require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or Stormwater Discharge Permit, it merely has to be registered with the WVDEP 10.

It seems fair to characterize West Virginia legislation and regulation on yard waste management as confused and self-contradictory. On the one hand, the law prohibits the landfilling of this fraction of municipal solid waste and requires that it be recycled through composting. On the other hand, if local decision-makers deem yard waste composting to be inconvenient, the practice of landfilling is allowed to continue.

Notwithstanding the legislative and regulatory twists and turns, the law’s basic intent is clear. This is that yard waste is to be diverted from landfills to composting facilities so that it may be usefully recycled.

For "...small quantities..." of yard waste, the law provides for "...reasonable and necessary..." exceptions to the composting mandate. This is at the discretion of the Director of the WVDEP. Although Wheeling continues to landfill large amounts of separately collected yard waste, there is no record of the City having requested an exception or having been granted one.

As a rough estimate, the City’s Department of Sanitation collects 2,000 tons of source-separated yard waste, mostly leaves, in the fall season 12. This material is deposited in privately owned containers, then hauled by the company to its own landfill 9.1 miles distant for burial. The total annual cost to the City (hauling and tipping fees), exclusive of curbside collection, is estimated at roughly $93,000.

Yet within the boundaries of its landfill, disused since 1992, the City owns an ideal site for yard waste composting. The comparative hauling distance is 2.1 miles by one route, and 2.2 mile by another. Windrows could be formed on a level-to slightly-sloping five-acre area adjacent to the fill itself. This area has a hard surface, as the soil was scraped off for use as cover material. A water standpipe and truck weighing scale are at the threshold to this area. Owing to steep surrounding hills, the site is remote from houses.

The first reaction of City officials to the suggestion that Wheeling establish its own yard waste composting facility was frankly negative. The absence of pressure from the WVDEP was noted. In effect, the City has been let off the hook. A second, more considered, reaction was that the matter would be looked into. This was in early September.

At the time of writing, it is uncertain whether the City of Wheeling will begin to compost its yard waste rather than continuing to landfill it. Two things are certain. One is that the City is currently violating the law in this regard. This condition could be terminated easily by establishing a composting operation, while saving taxpayer money. The other certainty is that autumn is near and the leaves have started to fall.

¹ West Virginia Code ( 20-11-8(d).

² West Virginia Solid Waste Management Plan, Prepared by the Solid Waste Management Board, January 1999.

³ Peter F. Strom and Melvin S. Finstein. (1985, reissued 1994). New Jersey’s Manual on Composting Leaves & Management of Other Yard Trimmings. Department of Environmental Science, Cook College, Rutgers University; and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Copies may be obtained by calling NJDEP at (609) 530-8115.

4 West Virginia Code 20-11-8(a).

5 West Virginia Code 20-11-8(e)(1).

6 33CSR3 West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection "Yard Waste Composting Rule" effective 5 May 1997

7 John E. Caffrey, Director WVDEP, letter of 6 May 1997.

8 West Virginia Code 20-11-12.

9 West Virginia Solid Waste Management Plan, Prepared by the Solid Waste Management Board,

January 1999.

10 WVDEP, Registration Form for a Non-Residential Composting Activity.

11 Personal communication, Mr. Bill Rheinfelder, WVDEP Records Department, 14 September 1999.

12 Municipal-Scale Composting of Separately Collected Leaves and Yard Waste: Benefits to the City of Wheeling, West Virginia. Presented by M.S. Finstein to the Ohio County (WV) Solid Waste Authority, 26 August 1999. The Authority voted to submit this report to the City with the recommendation that it be implemented (Wheeling News-Register, 27 August, 1999, p.19).