MES works with the Montgomery County Yard Trim Composting Facility (MCYTCF) and the Prince George’s County Organics Composting Facility (PGCOCF) to turn yard trim into Leafgro® and Leafgro® GOLD, soil amendment products sold at retailers throughout Maryland. These facilities are owned by their respective counties and operated under MES’ direction.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that 12.1% of the total weight of municipal solid waste is yard trim in 2018. During the fall, the percentage can reach up to 40%. At a landfill, this material would decompose through anaerobic digestion due to the lack of oxygen. This process creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. However, at a composting facility, routine material turning allows air to aid the decomposition process. This is known as aerobic digestion. Therefore, diverting yard trim from the landfill to a composting facility reduces the amount of methane produced and gives the yard trim a quick turnover rate to become a resource once again.
Leafgro® has been used in many Washington-Baltimore area landmarks.
For more information about composting facility operations, please contact Tim Ford.
The Montgomery County Yard Trim Composting Facility, located near Dickerson, MD, has been in operation since 1983. All loose and bagged leaves and grass received at the Transfer Station run through grinders to improve transportation efficiency and aid the composting process. Because of the County’s educational efforts about the restricted use of plastic bags, less than half of one percent of feedstock ends up as waste.
The facility produces and sells both bulk and bagged Leafgro®. The facility processes about 77,000 tons of material a year and sells about 650,000 bags of Leafgro® and 19,351 yards of bulk Leafgro® per year.
