Photo Credit- Flickr (Plan for Opportunity)

As of April 30th, 2012, we are seeking interest from facilities and solid waste haulers in the Northern VA & DC area who wish to supply organic waste for commercial composting.

Facilities that produce significant amounts of organic/food waste (e.g.restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, large facilities with dining services) are encouraged to do the following three steps:

1. Download these two documents:
       A.  FAQs- Organic Waste Supplier
       B.  Project Overview

2. Express your interest in becoming a supplier of organic waste by clicking here or send an email to Ashlea Smith at ashlea@freestatefarmsva.com

3. Ask your solid waste hauler to take the first steps to become a Registered Hauler with us (have them contact Ashlea Smith, Ashlea@freestatefarmsva.com). If an organization’s hauler is unable to accommodate organic waste, then a list of registered haulers will be available here in 2013.

Are you a Solid Waste Hauler? If so, click here.  Are you a FOG Collector? If so, click here.

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Background Information:

Per a study of the Northern Virginia Agricultural Supply Chain, Freestate Farms determined:

• The ready supply of organic soil amendments and non-chemical agricultural fertilizer was diminishing vis-à-vis chemical fertilizers were becoming price prohibitive to the average farmer.
• Access to local, commercially-available compost (naturally full of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients necessary for growing crops) was slim or non-existent.
• Local chefs and farmers were in search of conventionally available options to compost their food and organic waste.
• Regional infrastructure for organic waste diversion (commercial and on-farm composting) was lacking.
• The amount of food and landscaping waste produced in the area was tremendously high!

The conclusion led to Freestate Farms’ initial steps to organize a Commercial Compost Facility utilizing Anaerobic Digestion, biogas sequestration and compost tea production to satisfy many of the results of the study.

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