Beaufort Co.’s new composting program attacks landfill growth, aims to save over $1M in taxpayer dollars

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Beaufort County leaders say a newly launched composting program has the potential to save taxpayers over a million dollars in the long run by changing how the community handles food scraps and organic waste.

Since its launch in January, the program has already diverted more than 30,000 pounds of food scraps and waste from state landfills, turning it instead into nutrient-rich soil.

According to a study by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Science, organic waste makes up 32.5% of all trash in South Carolina landfills, which comes out to over 930,000 pounds of food waste annually.

Locally, Beaufort County has spent approximately $149,000 on organic waste disposal alone.

“Waste is often something that people don’t see or notice or think about after it goes to the trash can,” Beaufort County’s Solid Waste and Recycling Program Manager, Victoria Hoffman, said.

Before the program started, county residents who wanted to compost had to either build a compost pile in their own backyard or haul their organic waste nearly two hours away to a facility in Charleston.

“That’s one of the reasons we really felt compelled to apply for this grant and start this program,” Hoffman said.

Now, thanks to grant funding, the county has simplified the process. Residents can collect their household food scraps and drop them off in green composting bins located at county convenience centers.

From there, county workers collect the green bins every Tuesday and haul the waste to the state’s only county government-owned “in-vessel” composting machine.

The specialized machine processes the waste, using a mechanical auger to break down the material and turn it into nutrient-rich soil.

The finished compost is then returned to a local garden near the Beaufort County Public Works building that is currently growing plants and vegetables.

“Instead of taking all of these chemicals and putting them into our bodies, we are using something we already had—a waste—and making it a resource,” Beaufort County’s Environmental Education Coordinator, Libby Bergmann, said.

In addition to environmental benefits, keeping organic waste out of the landfill could dramatically reduce the county’s operational costs over time.

“It does have the potential to save taxpayer dollars when we divert the waste, as opposed to hauling it to the landfill and tipping it at the landfill,” Hoffman explained.

County leaders also see the program as a hands-on learning tool for local students.

“Sharing that education and making it obtainable and something that’s provided in our curriculum is really awesome for our students and teachers,” Bergmann said. “I think this will give them a really good hands-on experience.”

In less than seven months, nearly 700 residents have participated in the program, and the program is represented by the mascot, Mossy, the official Gullah storyteller mascot for the Beaufort County Government USDA-funded food waste composting pilot program.

Moving forward, county leaders plan to expand the initiative into the Beaufort County School District, partner with local businesses, and eventually establish regional partnerships so neighboring counties can utilize Beaufort County’s composting site.