Basalt launches pilot composting drop-off program

Aspen Times file
Basalt is launching a new pilot compost drop-off program for its residents, the town announced Monday.
The Town is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and to reducing the regional waste stream by enhancing composting options, a news release states. The pilot program, called the Basalt Compost Outpost, is designed to accept residential kitchen scraps.
“The goals are to change habits around dealing with waste in Basalt and to keep the organic materials out of the landfill to reduce harmful emissions,” Basalt Senior Planner Sara Nadolny said in the release. “This also contributes to meeting Basalt’s climate action goals.”
In 2024, the Green Team, the town’s volunteer environmental board, turned its focus on residential composting solutions to further the Town’s climate change goals and to address the amount of food waste going to the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center from Basalt, the release states. A 2022 Pitkin County waste sort revealed that 20% of Basalt’s waste was food and organic matter.
“In 2024, the Green Team surveyed the community on incentives and composting habit,” the release states. “Fifty-eight percent of the respondents wanted to see a free drop-off location and 60% said a free compost bucket along with education would be helpful to increase the Town’s composting rates.”
To participate, residents are asked to read general composting information, learn what food and household items are accepted as compost, and take a short quiz. Participants will then be given a code to access the Compost Outpost shed to drop off their compost at their leisure. The first 50 participants will also receive a free one-gallon stainless steel compost kitchen container.
For those interested in composting from home in Basalt, EverGreen ZeroWaste and Mountain Waste and Recycling offer curbside pick-up services. The Pitkin County Solid Waste Center also accepts compost free of charge.
The pilot program is scheduled to run through 2025 after which the Town will assess its impact.
More information on Basalt’s composting program can be found at http://www.basalt.net/compost.
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