Composting ... has a certain ick factor. But Cabarrus County commissioners are trying to make it cool and are working on converting 15-acres of one of their landfills into a composting facility.
The Charlotte Motor Speedway landfill is expected to run out of space in about 20 years.
So now Cabarrus county officials are working to start a 15-acre compost facility at its Construction & Demolition landfill.
Kevin Grant is the county's sustainability manager.
"I think what we want to do is starting to create culture of not just putting waste in a landfill where it just sits for you know hundreds of years, but actually taking your waste, diverting it from landfills and making it into a beneficial reused product," Grant says.
Agromatters, a composting company in Huntersville, is expected to be selected for the contract on April 15. At first, the company plans to sell the compost created from yard waste. But it will expand to composting food waste.
The county hopes the compost operation will largely depend on restaurants to contribute their food waste.
At a meeting earlier this week, Cabarrus County Commissioner and restaurant owner Chris Measmer told Grant he doubts restaurants will participate because of the time involved in separating food from other trash.
Measmer: To have employees to try to separate those items is going to cost a business much more money.
Grant: Well, it's a culture thing. That's why we need to start now, because in 15 years when that speedway landfill fills up, say if you're paying $100 a month for garbage disposal, what happens if you start paying $300 a month?
The facility is expected to start composting by October, if it is approved by county commissioners.
