Organic Resource Recycling Program


 

 

What is the Organic Resource Recycling Program?

 

The City of St. Peters’ award-winning Organic Resource Recycling Program beneficially recycles biodegradable yard waste matter and biosolids. The biosolids, which are byproducts of St. Peters’ wastewater treatment process, are dewatered in a building next to the compost facility and turned into a cake-like material ready for composting. The yard waste is collected from the community. Residents can recycle yard waste curbside or drop off their yard waste at St. Peters’ “Earth Centre” compost facility. The dewatered biosolids and yard waste are processed, mixed, composted, tested and sold back to the community as a soil amendment and to help with erosion control.

 

LEARN MORE about obtaining compost and other yard products at the Earth Centre yard waste and compost center.

 

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Independent testing verifies Class A compost

 

Independent laboratories test the compost created through St. Peters' Organic Resource Recycling Program to ensure top quality and safe use. Because St. Peters’ compost meets the highest standards of the U.S. Composting Council, the material is certified as “class A.”

 

 

 

 

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How does this program benefit our community?

 

The St. Peters Organic Resource Recycling Program directly benefits our community with healthier lawns, gardens, farms, wetlands and streams, as well as reduced waste. The program recycles 6,000 tons of biosolids on an annual basis—each year saving the weight equivalent of a ferry boat from the landfill. The program processes another 30,000 cubic yards of yard waste into reusable mulch and compost. (The Earth Centre yard waste drop-off area is shown to the right.)

 

Between 2,000-3,000 St. Peters residents take advantage of this compost each year. St. Peters residents get the lowest rates possible on compost, double ground mulch and topsoil at Earth Centre. LEARN MORE about Earth Centre's products and services. Get your Resident Privilege Card for resident rates.

 

Contractors regularly buy the compost from Earth Centre for erosion control, creating filter socks and blanketing land to stop sediment run-off at construction or landscaping sites. The City also uses the compost for erosion control, and to help grow vegetation in constructed wetland projects. Erosion control helps with clean water by keeping sediment on-site instead of running off and polluting streams.

 

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National and State Awards

 

The Organic Resource Recycling Program for the City of St. Peters has garnered the following awards from outside organizations:

 

  • Gold Composting Excellence Award, Solid Waste Association of North America, 2010.
  • National Clean Water Act Recognition Award, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008. St. Peters’ wastewater treatment plant won a second-place national EPA award in the category of Exemplary Biosolids Management in the Large Operating Project classification. The national award recognizes outstanding biosolids operating projects. According to the EPA, innovative and widely applicable biosolids techniques are vital to the nation’s effort to protect and improve our land and water resources in a sustainable way. The award came in the division for large-flow wastewater plants that includes major U.S. cities. The U.S. has 16,000 publicly owned wastewater treatment plants.
  • Outstanding Management of Wastewater Plant Biosolids, Missouri Water Environment Association, 2007. St. Peters received this award for developing and implementing cost-effective, environmentally safe and publicly acceptable biosolids management practices. The award came in the division for large-flow wastewater plants.

 

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