HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04241990 - MR.2 MR. 2
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
DATE: April. 24, 1990 MATTER OF RECORD
SUBJECT: Disposal of Household Waste
The Board this day heard a presentation from Grace Ellis on
the "converti" type process which turns household garbage into
fertilizer through a composting type process. She recommended that
the Board:
1. Implement mandatory recycling programs with performance
goals established for each city that must be reached by a
specific date.
2 . Build three composting plants centrally located to serve
East, West, and Central county.
3 . Reclaim existing landfills by excavation for recycling and
composting to provide the space for the 5 percent of the
solid waste stream not acceptable for composting.
4. Widely advertise a Request for Proposals for alternate
waste disposal technology.
5. Establish a citizens review committee to make recommenda-
tions to the Board.
Comments were received from Councilmember Mashore of the City
of Concord on the need for all jurisdictions to work cooperatively
together to address the garbage disposal problem.
The Chair thanked Ms. Ellis for her presentation.
THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY
NO BOARD ACTION TAKEN
cc : Community Development
S . Hoffman
A
iiiiiim M�_ !
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 'I III SI)AY, MARCH 1, 1988
1
THE ELLIS Green grows garbage
`Convertit' process turns municipal trash into fertilizer
SOLUTION `Soil"and now considered a classic,has this to
Baa.mw a The Chre S.m.se W say our page 121: 'The modem American
►emperro 9eeen,Fla. kitchen contains enough boron to produce 16
Welds BEN elm the G Burr pulled him- tons a ers,st hey.This borons,si Ne enamel
self lrom the wreckage of his D-17 N[reezers,stoves,rcMgeraton,BWa,dishes,
bomber in occupied Czechoslovs- and glassware." Several analyses of the
TO THE toward the end of mdo War allandConvertit compost bear this out and more.One,
t.1,he promptly set a course for Allied lines in done in 1978 by Dr.J.F.T.Bertinner,a chemi-
Belglum-and walked his sora;to freedom. cal and engineering consultant of CNesgo.
It wasn't easy.The obstacles were many and noted,"There are at least 24 mineral elements
the need to detour frequent,but he made It.In present that serve as plan,nutrients."includ-
many ways that wartime experience was to be Ing"all 17 now established as essential to plant
the proving ground for a much more daunting grow N,and to seed and fruit formation."
GARBAGE journey Burr would subsequently undertake- Burr Ant erected a small ernonstretion
Ne arduous and often frustrating task of pro plant N McKeesport,Pa,'the la4'60s,Belling
cooling simple,environmentally sound garbage the end product principally In Pittsburg)%.But
disposal in the United States with a unique when he suggested to McKeesport officials that
system of his own design. they should pay a small Upping fee for drop.
Plans are being completed for a Florida fa- ping the garbage at the plant,they objected and
MESS!
pdlityrocess.
that will demonstrate a Burr's g from% he promptly banned the transportationei garbage
prooss, which converts everything from the through their%,?seta from those neighboring
com sakes box to the towns that were pct
junked refrigerator, hr - pared to pay.So Burt ac-
euding auto tires and Decomposing the mpted an invitation to
glass bottles,into a fer- roblem i move his plant to Ja-
tilizer and soil condi- LL- malts It was to prove a
boner approved by thepryer re e)able materials are 8 mixed blessing.
Environmental Protec- removed,inunieipai waste Is In the city of Kings-
tion Agency and the Ug ton,the effectiveness of
made up of these substances S
Department of Agri- the process was proved
culture. Plastics Wood beyond doubt.But with
Nothing remains for 7.27* 3.s% o Independence came a
the landfill, which is orals Food Rubber ares left-wing govemmenl
what makes the method lass 01 B.tY laalher a hostile to the business
m remarkable.The plant 7sL f u community. Burr was
is expected to come on i first required to double
Texts es
Your candidate Or stream by the middle of Yard waste 2-t,t the labor force without
next summer. 17.9x: Other increasing output. Even
The Convertit process so the plant was able to
Sp b more than mere the- PBDer f' operate; but when told
upervisor y isor ory. Fourteen years of 37.1x that he had to hand over
pilot-plant operation, majority Control to the
briefly in the US during government, Burr sem.
GRACE ELLIS
the'150s and for 12 sub- The waste Into a t'process changes ea plywoo Packed up and
ecqucnt years on the waste Into a chemically stable, walked away, kaWng
Caribbean Island of Ja- odor-free,fertilize;and the :.equlpmcnt .to
maica,have proved loth toll conditioner decay.
the system and the end Since then a more
has had enough of the Product.The bulk of the hto government
,amaican product was
has co•.;r, as ams to power,and
exported to the US,and Burt has litres cep-
it was liberally used In ,,..:�r•w:_. proached several tunes
political rhetoric. It's time World apingthem the Disney co%cope•. what b row
World theme park N Or- conceded to be amuch-
lando,Fla. needed"fertilirerplant"
Burr foresaw the (Jamaica has to import
for the people's plan. road waste prows aall its fertilizers).Burr's
now W obsious, v far arrcern is that he does
back as 1951. At that not want to invest in the
carne most people be- island again only to have
Beved landfills would his former foes returned
provide a timeless Solas- sw.e.rm..n..aocums to power in a subsequent
tion to solid waste.**Why !lection
bother when we can bury it,"was the standard Meanwhile,even in the US the road to sue-
IN reasoning of the day.Even so,Burr persisted ass has been far from smooth for the Agripost
with the ideas snt sketched out on the draw- company he founded to market and operate the
toll boards of his Pittsburg engineering Convertit system.One plant destined for Roch-
company. ester,N.Y.,was turned down In favor of an
At first he experimented with waste separs- Incinerator,which has since been closed by the
tion, leaving only the organic matter for Environmental Protection Agency.AmPefter
composting,but that appeared complicated and the city of Coral Gables,Fla,opted for the Burr
Come to the Board of far from ethat s c at the lime. Besides, he system,decision,
Dade County favor'Of' It
thwthe
arted
%eco-key a that society would
much prefer - decision, again to,favor'o!' a regional
tum-key approach that would handle all house- Incinerator.
hold and commercial waste.But he was con- ' BW Chapman,Coral Gables mayor at the
cerned that the nonorganic materials would time, contends the city was created.Today
Supervisors meeting contaminate the end product.Further research transport to and tipping fees at the regional
turned up facts about the waste stream that incinerator cost Coy alGBHesfive times Its con-
surprised him:The inorganic matter contains traced price with Agripost"A transfer sta-
on Tuesday April 24th plant gr and trace elements vital to vigorous tion,costing more-hen the A the in plant we
plant growth. wanted,had to be built]to Seed's incinerator}
In fact the USDA's 1957 Yearbook,entitled A..s w TMSH real p"
...- -at 11:00 a.m. C - rise tj a sterilizing 17C degrees F.Organic
rrr�
11 ASH aam same%;per__ materials-paper,wood,rood waste,ete.
-are digested hy'e bacteria and their
(651 Pine Street in Martinez) aye;a:aal'cked p garbage Mr. ut�are disintegrated by the�cheer p of
Chapman said in a recent interview, action within the pile.Even glass is dra-
1 went down to look over the plant in maticaDy altered,and any plastic is indb-
tation of Kingston,•says Chapman."The system is Unguishable as a slier material.
for apresen
simple,straightforward,meets all heal' The finished product is chemically sta.
requirement&.and there's my smell within ble,odor-free,and ready for spreading on
minutes of the fresh garbage being shred- any land surface.7lsts show that,even if
ded. It's ahsolutely amazing' You could used w clean All,It has a bearing capacity
THE ELLIS SOLUTION* site it in the middle of town and except well exp averageFlorida soil.
fol the trucks no one would know It was a According to Burr, "Even if if Ihad to
garbage processing plant" I landfill it AU,f could do war half the cost
In the Convertit system, garbage is of incineration."
shredded twice, seeded with a propri- Capital costs for a Conbertit system
etary bacterial inoculant,and stacked in. plant are put at$25,000 to 530,000 per
windrows(all indoors)that are turned daily ton of capacity,working an our
every three days.Windrow temperature day.
Paid for by Committee to elect Grace Ellis ID#900755
t �bCA 94522
■ P•O. BOX 432 CONCORD,
682-0737