Special to the Journal
On Monday, November 25th the Revere City Council unanimously passed a curb-side composting ordinance and pilot program for Revere residents. Composting is a natural recycling of organic material like food scraps, leaves, and yard trimmings into a valuable and soil enriching organic by product while preventing them from ending up in landfills. The curb-side program is intended to have a company do “regular pick-up of compostable material from residents’ homes” to be composted off-site in a regulated manner.
“We are thrilled to see Revere moving forward with food waste prevention and composting,” said Cindy Luppi, National Field Director, Clean Water Action. “In one smart step, we are reducing pollution, addressing the climate crisis and reducing reliance on landfills and the WIN Waste trash incinerator – a home run for us all.”
Over 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in landfills come from food scraps and those emissions create a gas called methane. In the United States, Municipal Solid Waste landfills are the third largest emitor of methane gas which acts like a thick blanket over our planet therefore speeding up climate change. This gas is over 50 times stronger at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. In addition to reducing the amount of methane gas that cities produce, composting creates a valuable byproduct that serves to capture climate changing carbon, prevent topsoil erosion which reduces water quality, and help communities, particualrly coastal communities in their storm water management vital to protecting our homes.
The ordinance which was authored and filed by Revere Councillor At-Large Juan Pablo Jaramillo, creates a voluntary program that residents who want to participate can opt-in to. “This porgram gives working families the opportunity to participate in climate mitigation measures from their homes. Climate change is real and as a coastal community our homes, our children, and grandchildren are at grave risk if we don’t take bold and immediate action to reduce production of planet warming gases” said Jaramillo.
The ordinance directs mitigation money from the new WIN waste disposal contract toward the pilot the city will begin as result of this ordinance and directs the mayor to create subsidies and or fee waivers for working class families who would like to participate and residents over the age of 65. Jaramillo added, “I am proud of the work community leaders like Loretta Lacentra and Cindy Luppi, my colleagues and I did all year to get this piece of legislation across the finish line. This pilot will reduce our reliance on the WIN incinerator that continues to pollute our Rumney Marsh and the air residents in neighborhoods like the Point of Pines and Riverside breath while giving the opportunity to residents of all ages and income levels to participate in creating a more climate resilient community.”
Ward 5 City Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya who represents the Point of Pines and Riverside neighborhoods and is a co-sponsor of the ordinance said “the residents of the Pines and Riverside deserve alternatives and solutions that protect the air and water in the neighborhood they live and I am proud that we are taking an important first step toward delivering just that by diverting waste from the harmful incinerator next door” in reference to the WIN incinerator which has long been a subject of concern for the residents of the neighborhoods she represents.
While this program is a pilot and voluntary for residents who want to participate, it is set up to track any waste tonnage diverted from the costly traditional waste disposal program and assess the savings it generates to Revere taxpayer’s directing those savings to expand the program.
Per the ordinance, the Mayor’s office must put out a request for proposal (RFP) for a company to do the composting work within the next 90 days. According to Tom Skwierawski, the City’s Chief of Planning and Community Development, the city has already put one together and has applied for additional state and federal grants to make this program as comprehensive and accessible as possible for Revere residents.
