Santa Cruz County will be keeping its composting program, despite the steep costs involved. For the past three years, the county has been composting food scraps from more than 50 local schools, hospital and restaurants. The amount of discarded food collected totals about 100 tons per month, which would otherwise go into the Buena Vista Landfill.
Due to budgetary constraints, however, the program will be adjusted. Public Works Director John Presleigh announced that the scraps will be transferred to Salinas for composting, rather than having it done locally. Trucks taking the scraps to Salinas would bring back discarded construction materials, which are recycled in Santa Cruz. This decision was taken because the current permit to operate a composting facility in Santa Cruz had expired, and it would cost an estimated $200,000 to make the improvements demanded by the state before the local facility could renew its permit. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
