UCRRA PARTNERS IN COMPOSTING PROGRAM

UCRRA operates a large scale industrial composting operation in Kingston, processing up to 5,000 tons of source-separated organics (food scraps) each year, transforming it into a high quality finished compost that’s sold to local farmers, landscapers, and hobby gardeners.

UCRRA partners with large food scrap generators such as; commercial businesses, cafés/restaurants, grocers, food manufacturers, office buildings, schools, hospitals/assisted living facilities, festivals/events, and local municipalities. Our partners work with our Recycling Outreach Team to develop and implement their composting plan, and it all starts with our New Partner Questionnaire to gather details about your location, the sources and quantity of food scraps, and your plans for how to educate participants. UCRRA provides free educational resources such as staff training/onboarding, bin stickers, sorting station posters, and much more! Our partners also have the option to sign-out 35 gallon rolling tote bins for use in the collection and transportation of the food scraps.

UCRRA does not provide any hauling or pick-up services. Our Partners must deliver the collected food scraps to our Organics Recovery Facility in Kingston, which requires a permit from the Ulster County Health Department, or arrange for services with a licensed food scrap hauler (refer to our list of haulers for more details). Contact our Director of Sustainability for a free consultation and a New Partner Questionnaire, and we can explain all of your composting options.

Let’s work together to Grow Ulster Green!

View our Partners in Composting Booklet

Food Scrap Drop Off Fee: $20.00 per ton

Accepting: all food scraps including pre or post consumer food scraps, meat/fish bones, dairy, fruit/vegetable trimmings, bulk produce, bread and bakery overages, coffee grounds/filters, tea bags, nut shells, cooked/uncooked foods, plate scrapings, etc.

Any inclusion of *fiber-based *BPI-certified compostable packaging (plates, cups) must be expressly reviewed and approved by UCRRA and may be discretionary based on the types, quantities, and frequency of drop off. 

NOT Accepting: any type of PLA or resin-based “compostable” packaging such as cups/utensils/straws, bulk liquids, grease traps, waste vegetable oil, packaged foods, brewery waste grains, animal manure, food service contaminants (hairnets, gloves, condiment packages, rubber bands/twist ties, utensils, produce stickers, mesh produce bags, etc.), ay types of plastic, glass, metal, etc. pizza boxes or miscellaneous paper products.

Please note: contamination rates are charged at the current solid waste disposal fee.

Food Waste Icon

UCRRA Named Small-Scale Compost Manufacturer of the Year by the U.S. Composting Council (2021)

RESOURCES

Organics Management for Businesses Resources by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Food Waste Estimator Tool by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute

Contamination – A Troubleshooting Guide for Food Service Managers by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute

Organic Resource Locator Tool by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute

Rethink Food Waste NY – Free Technical Assistance by CET

Find a Food Scrap Hauler 

Waste Reduction and Recycling Guidebook by UCRRA

TESTIMONIALS

“What an important time to embrace composting! Bread Alone Bakery has worked in partnership with UCRRA for almost five years.  It is an initiative that is embraced by all company associates, as Bread Alone’s culture is one of sustainability and protecting all the Earth’s resources.  Bakery ingredient overage is transported to UCRRA weekly to become part of their quality compose production. We are very fortunate to have UCRRA.  The team there is passionate about their mission.  If you haven’t visited their website, you should!  I’d encourage a site visit as well, as you’ll learn an incredible amount of information that will foster your own personal sustainability initiatives above and beyond!”
-Paul Amos, Director of Operations/Food Safety Coordinator, Bread Alone Bakery
“We have loved working with UCRRA. They have made it so easy to [compost] in an efficient and easy way. We love their commitment to composting and recycling. It’s so important to keep food waste out of landfills and incinerators in order to decrease methane production and build healthy soils. The UCRRA gets all of this and they are a pleasure to work with!”
-Michelle & Java Bradley, Owners of JAVA’S COMPOST (New Jersey)
“The O Zone is a proud partner of Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency in their Composting Program. What an honor it is to work with such a professional, knowledgeable organization whose aim is to provide quality service and invaluable education to our community. Their diligent work is improving not only our community here in the Hudson Valley, but the world at large. Thank you for all that you do!”
– Amelia LeGare, Owner of The O Zone (Redhook NY)
“We have been sending food scraps to UCCRA’s Compost Facility since early 2017.  UCRRA supports food scrap recycling as their primary goal.  This motivation shows in all aspects of their operations and it’s been a pleasure working with UCRRA!  They were one of the first composting facilities in the area, setting a model for others. Their operations are set up to support food scrap recycling programs, they accept the items needed for these programs to be successful. They set a low tip fee that promotes [composting] as a financial saving and they are a consistent and expanding facility to bring food scraps to.”
-Village of Scarsdale and Scarsdale Conservation Advisory Council (Westchester County)

WHY SHOULD YOU COMPOST?

WASTING FOOD WASTES EVERYTHING: When we waste food, we’re not only wasting money but we’re also wasting all the natural resources invested in producing and transporting that food. 19% of U.S. cropland, 18% of fertilizer use, and 21% of fresh water usage is dedicated to food that goes to waste each year.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE: Composting demonstrates your commitment to the environment and food donation demonstrates concern for social justice in equitable food systems. Society is becoming increasingly aware of sustainable climate change solutions, and consumers are looking to support businesses and organizations that have strong environmental sustainability goals.

IT’S THE LAW: The Ulster County Food Waste Prevention and Recovery Act goes into effect on January 1st 2021 and requires that large food scrap generators in Ulster County must donate all excess edible food and manage all remaining food scraps by organics recycling. Learn more here. State-wide, the New York State Food Donation and Food Scrap Recycling Law will go into effect on January 1st 2022, and has similar requirements.

POLLUTION PREVENTION: Food is natural organic material and when discarded in landfills, it degrades anaerobically to produce methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Nationwide, food waste (food scraps) make up the largest component of material that gets buried in landfills – approximately 22% or over 30 million tons per year.

COMPOSTING IS RECYCLING’S NEXT FRONTIER: Forty percent of food grown in the U.S. is never eaten, a shocking statistic when you realize that almost 13% of New York State’s population is food insecure, more than 2.5 million New Yorkers. It’s estimated that as much as 30% of the waste stream is compostable. In Ulster County, that equates to about 30,000 tons of organics that could be diverted through composting.

REDUCE COSTS: Food waste makes up a significant portion of the municipal waste stream. For more businesses, schools, and institutions, 30-50% of waste could be avoided with better food handling and composting programs. Since facilities typically pay according to the volume of waste they generate, facilities can enjoy lower disposal costs by increasing recycling and composting activities.

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES THROUGH COMPOSTING

UCRRA Partners in Composting (English)

UCRRA Partners in Composting (Spanish)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

UCRRA operates an industrial composting operation at our Kingston Facility. The composting program began as a small pilot project in 2012 and later expanded into an established Organics Recovery Facility in 2016. Source separated organics (food scraps) from our commercial partners are blended with wood chips and processed into a high quality, local and sustainably-produced compost that is then sold in bulk after a 90 day process cycle of composting.

You collect your food scraps and let us do the composting for you! Just like how you source-separate recyclables from the trash, you would establish a collection area and bins for food scraps only. A member of your organization’s ‘Green Team’ would then deliver the food scraps to UCRRA on a regular basis, and we will transform your trash into treasure! Please note: all collection programs must be enrolled in the Partners in Composting Program. Contact UCRRA to learn more!

The Partners in Composting Program is open to haulers, commercial businesses, schools, restaurants/cafes, grocery stores, hotels, office buildings, farmers markets, municipalities, municipal recycling drop off centers, non profit organizations, events/festivals, event venues, and other large waste generators. The program is not available to individual residents or small quantity generators.

UCRRA does not provide any pick up services; Our Partners must deliver the food scraps to our composting site, which helps keep your program costs affordable. There are a range of solutions to help you self-haul (the use of enclosed box trucks, pick up trucks, trailers, hitches, etc.).  Professional hauling services may be available in your area through a private company. UCRRA maintains a contact list for food waste management services.

UCRRA provides a high level of technical consultation and educational services for our Partners in Composting, when located in Ulster County. We provide support services like free staff training, posters, bin labels, signs, and can also provide 35 gallon food scrap collection bins to help launch your program (rental fee applies). Once per year, we will provide stats about your sustainability impact so you can share your success, and other tools for use in social media coming soon! To learn more or schedule a consultation, please contact us at 845-336-3336.

Ulster County passed the Food Waste Prevention and Recovery Act in December 2019. The law goes into effect on July 1st 2020 and will regulate generators in Ulster County. The law requires large food waste generators to first separate and donate edible food, and recycle all remaining food scraps regardless of the distance to the nearest organics recycling facility. The Ulster County law differs from the State law in that it does not exempt schools, hospitals, or assisted living facilities. The Ulster County law establishes implementation tiers for large food waste generators starting at 2 tons per week in 2020; 1 ton per week in 2021; 0.75 tons per week in 2022; and 0.5 tons per week in 2023. For more information about the law, please visit https://ulstercountyny.gov/environment/environment/waste-reduction/skip-the-straw-law/food-waste-prevention-and-recovery-act

New York State passed the Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law in April 2019. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2022 and requires large generators of wasted food and food scraps to separate and donate edible food and recycle all remaining food scraps if located within 25 miles of an organics recycling facility. Large generators are defined as making more than 2 tons of wasted food per week. For more information about the law, please visit www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/114499.html or contact FoodScrapsLaw@dec.ny.gov

Transporting residential and institutional waste (including food scraps) is exempt from NYSDEC transporter regulations (364-2.1(b)(1)). In addition, regulated waste (commercial or industrial waste) is exempt in quantities less than or equal to 2,000 pounds in a single shipment (364-2.1(b)(5)).If a transporter is hauling over one ton of commercial waste (which includes food scraps from a restaurant or grocery store), the transporter must register the vehicle with NYSDEC (364-3.1(c)). For more information visit www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8483.html

With sanitary management techniques and best practices, it’s very easy to prevent nuisances like odors, fruit flies, etc. Food scraps should always be stored in a sealed, leak-proof container. The container should be emptied regularly , just like you would haul away trash or recycling. Containers should be well maintained and rinsed clean after each use. Compostable bin liners also help with keeping bins clean! For more tips, consult with UCRRA.

A waste audit is the practice of studying, measuring, and recording the amount and types of waste generated at a specific location. Waste audits can be a facility walk-through or an actual “trash sort” where waste is collected, sorted, and weighed as various categories.

To get started, contact the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency for a consultation.