SELKIRK — Bethlehem Town Supervisor David VanLuven joined local elected officials to officially unveil the Town’s new “Aerated Static Pile” Food Scraps Composting Program on Wednesday, April 6.
It’s the only municipal food scraps composting facility in the Capital District. It’s also the largest composting operation in the region and one of the largest in the state.
The Feura Bush Road facility is frequently upheld as a model by other municipalities and was selected by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to host the 2022 New York State Organics Summit facility tour.
According to a statement released by VanLuven’s office last week, the town transforms about 2 million cubic feet of yard waste into compost and mulch for landscaping and gardening, farming and topsoil production – thus turning waste into beneficial products for residents and businesses and revenue for the town, all while building healthy soils and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our fight against climate change.
“Sustainability is a core value for the Town of Bethlehem. Our new composting system is better for our environment, better for our budget, and better for our community’s fight against climate change,” VanLuven said.
Using state grants, the Town has installed the first of five “Aerated Static Pile” systems designed by Peter Moon with O2 Compost. It’s designed to quickly turn food scraps into rich compost for gardens, cutting the production time from approximately nine months to about nine weeks.
“We are thrilled to significantly grow Bethlehem’s food scraps composting program with the launch of our new Aerated Static Pile system—the same year as the NYS Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law takes effect,” said Dan Lilkas-Rain, Bethlehem Recycling & Composting Department Head. “This new system allows us to better serve Bethlehem residents, while also providing a potential outlet for commercial businesses in the greater community affected by the food scraps recycling requirements of the new law.”