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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRECYCLING & WASTE COMMITTEE - 09/18/2018 - Green Dirt compost' 1 . RECYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Chernick Conference Room September 18, 2018 10:00 AM Present: Trustee Feichter, Chairman Trustee Prochno Trustee Czarnik Staff: Maggie Jablonski, Assistant Village Manager Nick Radcliffe, Administrative Intern Guests: Kunal Mahajan, Green Dirt Compost Rohan Anthony, Green Dirt Compost Stoil Ionov, Green Dirt Compost Scott Saxe Chairman Feichter called the meeting to order. GREEN DIRT COMPOST Representatives of Green Dirt Compost gave a presentation on their composting service to the Committee. Green Dirt Compost began as part of an entrepreneurship program at Conant High School, and is now operating as a business in Arlington Heights. Green Dirt Compost collects compostable materials, such as fruit and vegetable waste, from private businesses and residential homes through a subscription service. The Green Dirt facility uses a vermicompost system that uses worms to process waste, and create a fertilizer product. Employees toss in fruit and vegetable waste from clients into a large tub filled with thousands of worms that break down the food. Worm castings are then sifted out of the containers and packaged to be sold as fertilizer, which is sold online and at local garden stores. Green Dirt currently provides services to some local restaurants, and has started offering subscription services to residential homes, including some in Elk Grove Village. The residential compost subscription service works similar to the old milk jug service. Clients are provided with a 5-gallon plastic bucket with a lid and place all of their compostable waste into the container. This container is picked up weekly, and replaced with a clean, empty container to use for the following week. The cost for residential subscription to the composting service is $19.99 per month, which includes a free 1 lb. bag of worm castings fertilizer each month, valued at $9.99. S. Saxe stated that he subscribes to the service, and finds it to be very convenient, and noted that the fertilizer has worked very well on his plants. The Committee noted that Green Dirt Compost is not located in Elk Grove Village and inquired as to the reason Green Dirt Compost came to speak to the Village. K. Mahajan stated that in order to make the residential subscription service sustainable and keep down costs, they need to increase traction in their service area. He explained that they could offer better pricing to residents if they had more subscribers, and they believed that a contract directly with a municipality would help grow the business and increase exposure. M. Jablonski noted that Green Dirt Compost is the only composting service that currently offers individual subscriptions to private residents in our area, and that information could be provided as part of educational 2 ~ , materials on composting, with&%wthe Village endorsing the service. M. Jab*Nfiski explained that staff would need to conduct additional research if the Committee wished the Village to explore entering into an exclusive contract with a composting service on behalf of residents. The consensus of the Committee was to recommend that the Village provide residents with educational and instructional materials about composting that includes information about the composting collection service offered by Green Dirt Compost. These materials would be provided in Village publications and through an EGv program. The meeting adjourned at 10:53 AM C: Mayor and Board of Trustees Village Manager Deputy Village Manager Village Clerk Director of Community Development