East Wenatchee Moving Ahead On Use Of Compost In City Projects

East Wenatchee will now consider using compost in city projects. 

The city council approved the move after hearing about the composting process and its environmental benefits in a workshop last week. 

East Wenatchee Public Works Manager Garren Melton says they're keeping current with state law and widening their options. 

"There's no requirement to actually use compost," said Melton. "It's just when opportunities present themselves, we evaluate it." 

A state law passed last year requires cities to develop a plan for the use of compost. 

Melton says they'll consider using compost for a wide range of projects. 

"What this policy does is incentivize the city to take a look at compost, whether it's for public works projects, larger capital works projects, or just around the city maintenance, to try to make compost more sustainable and economically viable in the area." 

Winton Manufacturing Compost Works Executive Director Thadd Schutt gave a presentation to the East Wenatchee City Council on Sept. 14. 

Winton Manufacturing collects organic waste materials from the community in the forms of yard trimmings, brush, wood scraps, food scraps and other materials that would otherwise take up space in landfills.  

According to the company, discarded organic waste that is not composted in controlled conditions emit methane and other greenhouse gases that have been shown to be more detrimental to the atmosphere than CO2. 

Winton Manufacturing has a presence at this weekend's Wenatchee River Salmon Festival at Rocky Reach dam. According to a social media posting, they'll be focusing on clean water using compost to filter out toxins and pollutants.