August 30, 1994 Contact: Jennifer McNulty (408/459-2495)

UC SANTA CRUZ RESEARCHER COORDINATES LOCAL ARM OF STATEWIDE PROGRAM TO COMPOST MUNICIPAL YARD WASTE FOR AGRICULTURAL USES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--In a demonstration project funded by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, local cities and counties are teaming up with farmers to help reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills.

The two-year project, which will be administered by Marc Buchanan, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will test the viability of on- farm composting of municipal yard waste and cardboard and will monitor the subsequent performance of the compost in vegetable production.

The Monterey Bay regional project is one of five such efforts being launched statewide in the first high-profile trial run of municipal/agricultural composting collaborations. As part of the effort to reduce waste, municipalities are required by state law to divert a total of 10 million tons of compostable material from the state's waste stream every year by the year 2000. Yard clippings account for 15 to 25 percent of California's waste, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which would like to divert a significant portion of that waste to agriculture.

"The Monterey Bay region is a perfect setting for this type of trial run because it offers a high concentration of farms and urban areas," says Buchanan. "Urban areas generate large amounts of compostable waste that could be used by regional farms." Year-round production of fruits and vegetables in the study area--Santa Cruz, San Benito, and northern Monterey counties--generates more than $2 billion annually, and demand for organic soil amendments is strong. In Monterey County alone, an estimated 75,000 tons of animal manure is trucked from the Central Valley to farms every year. Compost improves soil quality by increasing water infiltration and retention, and enhancing the population of soil microbes and nutrient levels; when used as a mulch, it also helps to suppress weeds.

"This project is the first time the state has endorsed a partnership between municipalities and growers," says Buchanan. "The state will be relying on growers to step in and help divert a large portion of the municipal waste flow. This is the first time that a large-scale project will test the viability of that plan."

Solid-waste planners and managers from the city of Watsonville and the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey are project participants and will provide "clean" shredded yard trimmings and waxed cardboard for compost production. In addition, a compost made up entirely of yard trimmings will be produced at the Marina Landfill site in Monterey County for use at Jefferson Ranch.

Two ranches will produce compost, and four vegetable farms will apply the compost this fall and next spring: Herbert Ranch in San Benito County will produce compost from shredded urban landscape clippings, manure, vegetable-processing waste, and spoiled hay; Glaum Egg Ranch in Santa Cruz County will compost shredded waxed cardboard and chicken manure. Compost will be applied to lettuce, broccoli, and specialty leaf crops at Route One Farms in Santa Cruz County; Herbert Ranch and Tonascia Farms in San Benito County; and Jefferson Ranch in Monterey County.

Composting trials are scheduled to begin this month, and the chemical properties of trial batches will be analyzed. Compost derived from waxed cardboard will be monitored to assure minimal contamination from printing inks. Finally, researchers will compare the yields and the water-holding capacity of soil from those plots with plots that do not receive compost.

Buchanan received a $65,000 grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board to coordinate the project. Other participants in the $355,000 statewide study are the city of San Jose, and University of California Cooperative Extension offices in Fresno, Tulare, and Stanislaus. A summary of the Santa Cruz/Monterey project will be included in a final statewide report to be issued in 1996.

Editor's Note: Marc Buchanan may be reached in his office at (408) 459-3668, or call Jennifer McNulty in the UCSC Public Information Office at (408) 459-2495.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

Press Releases Home | Search Press Releases | Press Release Archive | Services for Journalists

Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu