An Open Letter from Prince George’s County Department of the Environment Director Andrea Crooms

Dear Prince Georgians, 

Did you know that approximately 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted each year globally? Discarded food is dumped into landfills, releasing greenhouse gas as it slowly rots away. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food is the largest category of material placed in municipal landfills in the United States. Food waste emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Instead of nourishing us, our landfilled food contributes to air and water pollution.  

In Prince George’s County, almost 34% of what is being disposed of at the County’s landfill is compostable, with food and food-soiled products making up the largest portion of the materials. That’s one-third of our landfill filled with valuable materials left to pollute our environment. 

I want better for our County. Don’t you? 

Prince George’s County is a national leader in being green. And now, with our curbside composting program, we are setting the standard for environmentally smart and friendly waste management. Our Organics Composting Facility is the most advanced on the East Coast. Located in Upper Marlboro, we process nearly 65,000 tons of material annually. That’s a lot of materials being saved, and it’s not even the best part: 

Yard trim and food scraps are organically processed into Leafgro GOLD®, a nutrient-rich, dark, soil-like material that makes us greener by promoting plant growth. 

The sale of Leafgro GOLD® to professional landscapers helps cover the cost of facility operations, meaning the jobs generated by the facility and the additional weekly waste removal service that comes with curbside composting are at no extra cost to taxpayers. 

Our state-of-the-art facility uses the “Gore Cover Bunker” method to create ideal composting conditions while efficiently eliminating odors and emissions. Compost is finished in 30 days, with no footprint for facility neighbors. 

While backyard composting is an excellent source reduction effort and provides valuable compost, our facility accepts and can break down animal products like meat, bones, cheese, and seafood shells without the strong odors or otherwise nuisance wildlife.

Without a doubt, our curbside composting program is great for our economy and environment.  

How can you get involved? You may already have your supplies! You may receive a wheeled green compost cart if you’re a resident with County waste residential curbside collection services. You will find a kitchen pail and a “welcome packet” in the new cart—your comprehensive service guide. You can also find the welcome packet at http://mypgc.us/compost. Our handy guide will explain the how, why, and what of composting and provide some handy tips.  

You might not have your supplies yet. Our Resource Recovery team is working on completing the program expansion by the end of this calendar year. All eligible residents in the County waste residential curbside collection service will receive a cart.

Once you have your supplies, the rest is easy. Just keep your kitchen pail in a convenient place; many residents recommend placing it by the sink. If you wish to, you can use a compostable bag liner for easy cleanup, but the kitchen pail is also dishwasher safe. Then, fill it up with food scraps and food-soiled paper items. Just like your kitchen trash or recycling can, empty the pail into your wheeled green cart when it’s full. Yard trim may also be included within the wheeled green cart. Mixing some leaves or grass with your food scraps inside the compost cart will help absorb potential moisture from the food scraps. Pizza boxes, paper towels, napkins, and paper plates absorb food moisture and should be included in the compost service program. Roll your cart to the curb by 6 a.m. on Monday, and we will take care of the rest!

Participating in curbside composting is a small change in habit that makes a big difference. Putting food scraps in your kitchen pail instead of your trash helps our air and water, and creates an all-organic rich nutrient soil amendment. If every Prince Georgian committed to doing this, we would significantly reduce our landfilled waste together. If you love Prince George’s County as I do, you’ll make this change and encourage your community to do the same. Together, we can keep our County green and beautiful! 

Thank you,      

Prince George’s County Department of the Environment Director Andrea Crooms