Thirteen years ago, the Franklin County Solid Waste District joined with the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association to set up the county’s first collaborative business composting program. The Shelburne Falls Compost Collaborative was an opportunity for business establishments to separate their food and paper waste and bring it to a communal organics dumpster. The dumpster was located on the Shelburne side until 2019 when it moved to the Buckland side.
The SFABA initially managed the finances, paid the hauler and collected fees from participating businesses. The Solid Waste District provided the technical assistance and operations oversight. In 2011, the SFABA transferred the financial aspect to the District.
While the participating businesses changed in name and number, the program continued to serve its original mission of diverting organic waste from the trash.
Most recently, a business on each side of the river began hosting an organics dumpster on their own. This has meant that the District no longer needs to oversee the program. While we loved our role in supporting this endeavor, this outcome is the perfect realization of a public/private partnership that no longer needs the public support. The current participating businesses are able to sustain this program on their own. Of course, the District will always be available for technical assistance even though we are not involved in the same way.
We want to thank all of the businesses that have participated in this program — past and present. We want to thank the staff that transported food waste to the organics dumpster. We want to thank the SFABA and the towns of Buckland and Shelburne for their support.
This program has been a model for the rest of the state. We called it one of our core organics diversion programs for many years. And now we watch as it transitions to being self-sufficient and a business model for all.
Jan Ameen, executive director
Amy Donovan, program director
Franklin County Solid Wast Management District