Push For Mandatory Composting For Salem Schools, Businesses

SALEM, MA — The start of a concerted push to implement mandated composting for all Salem business and municipal buildings — including Salem Public Schools — was greeted with a bit of a chilly reception when City Councilor Andy Varela and City Waste Reduction Coordinator Janelle Rolke met with the School Committee Monday night.

While most of the School Committee members appeared to agree on the value of composting and the importance of taking steps to combat climate change in a coastal community, there was a degree of bristling to a mandated program that Varela told Patch on Tuesday he hopes to implement as part of a city ordinance.

Varela said he intends to advance the composting ordinance out of the Public Health Safety Committee, of which he is the chairperson, to the full City Council for a vote as early as May. While he allowed there would then be a significant grace period for businesses and Salem Public Schools to get their programs up and running, he said the campaign to be what he believes would be the first city in the state to mandate composting is the right thing to do, and already long overdue.

"This is a big lift," Varela told Patch. "But this is an appropriate lift. This is something we need to do. This is a discussion we should have had years ago.

"I do think there will be a little hysteria at the start of this conversation."

While the School Committee give-and-take did not rise to that level, there was some pushback on putting the composting responsibility on already-stressed staff and students still recovering from the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns and the costs it may entail.

There also seemed to be at least a degree of bristling at the idea of this eventually becoming an order as opposed to a hopeful suggestion.

As what Varela calls "the biggest producer of food waste" in Salem, he said it is essential to get "the schools on board" — preferably with some level of enthusiasm.

"Not only is it a great way to educate our youth that sustainability and composting are good for the environment but it is a good way to spend our resources," he said. "That's why I decided to include the superintendent and our School Committee in this. There have been attempts to start programs at the schools before but they always seem to fizzle out.

"It doesn't seem our school administration and School Committee have been completely behind it."

Varela said that the need for composting and waste reduction has a practical urgency that goes beyond the overriding environmental impact. He said when the city's trash and garbage removal contract comes up in two years it is expected to as much as double in cost based on the amount of trash and garbage the city produces — previously the cost was more fixed to the frequency of pickups instead of volume of waste picked up, which it almost certainly now will be in the future based on trends in the industry.

"This is the only way to make sure we hold Salem Public Schools accountable for the future of its food diversion," Varela said. "We need to make sure this is consistent with all of our municipal buildings and we know the schools are our biggest percentage of that."

When it comes to forcing private businesses to comply, there are already state laws that cover much of what the ordinance would require. In November, the Department of Environmental Protection changed the ban on the disposal of commercial waste from a limit of one ton or more per week to a half-ton or more.

One Salem business that does not need any convincing on the need for composting is Spitfire Taco.

Co-owner Kathleen Rodgers said they have been composting at their Salem and Marblehead locations for about six months now and previously were already using almost 100 percent compostable containers and utensils as part of their business philosophy.

"We're generating way less trash so that's cheaper and the composting itself is pretty cheap," she told Patch on Tuesday. "The to-go products are a little more expensive but that's something we were committed to doing since we opened the Salem location.

"Personally, I think it should be mandatory. I've been composting at my home for a while now and it's just so much better for the environment because it's so much less waste. It definitely took some teaching for our staff, and time to learn for people to do it properly, but I believe it 100 percent should be mandatory."

Varela said he has a draft of the city ordinance, which he said has already been vetted by the city solicitor, that he could bring to the sub-committee at any time. He said his intent is to have a committee discussion about it by the end of March, have a greater City Council discussion in April, and "pass the ordinance in May."

"I am someone who comes from the food service industry and that's primarily why I feel comfortable doing this," he said. "I am still in the industry and I feel strongly about it.

"I feel strongly that these are changes that are needed going forward."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)