Pittsburgh City Council OKs composting pilot program

Pittsburgh City Council has authorized spending $90,000 in grant money to launch a two-year pilot program on composting.

The program will focus on educating the public about composting and supporting organizations that provide composting services. It also will include efforts to incorporate composting into the city’s farmers’ markets and parks.

“Composting can help us as a city not only reduce the carbon emissions that come from landfills,” but also improve soil quality, said Councilwoman Deb Gross, who said she has been composting for about 30 years.

Composting can improve soil’s ability to retain water, which reduces stormwater runoff, she said. Plus, it can revitalize soil, improving its quality and reducing the levels of lead found within the city’s soil.

The overarching goal, officials have said, is to increase composting and make it more accessible throughout the city.

Commonly composted materials range from food scraps and grass clippings to dried yard debris and cardboard.

Through the initiative, Pittsburgh will partner with nonprofit and for-profit organizations to experiment with different composting methods.

For example, the city will coordinate with vendors at farmers’ markets to test containers for to-go food, looking to find containers that are compostable and convenient for vendors. The city also plans to conduct pilot programs at Philips Recreation Center in Carrick and the Homewood Healthy Active Living Center, both of which host food programs.

Mayor Bill Peduto has said the program could help the city get closer to its zero waste goals, as outlined in the city’s Climate Action Plan.

As a requirement of using the grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the city must provide an in-kind match of $28,000, which could include the value of services or materials.