The city wants to build the nation’s largest composting facility as part of its ‘zero waste’ efforts.
A $4 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant will help the city of Baltimore build the nation’s largest municipally managed composting facility, reports Christine Condon in the Baltimore Sun.
The proposed Bowley’s Lane Composting Facility will likely break ground in 2025. “According to its 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan, Baltimore City already had plans to expand the Eastern Sanitation Yard along Bowleys Lane, near Moravia Road, to include a transfer station for trash trucks. According to an EPA fact sheet, the composting facility would be co-located with the new transfer station.”
The solar-powered facility will be able to process 12,000 tons of organic material each year. As Condon notes, “In 2021, Maryland legislators passed a law requiring certain large generators of food waste, such as higher education institutions, to separate their scraps for composting. But the law only applies to facilities within 30 miles of a compost facility with the capacity to handle their materials.”
FULL STORY: Baltimore receives federal funding to build composting facility
First New U.S. Waste-to-Energy Plant in 20 Years to Open in Florida
Waste-to-energy plants, or incinerators, are classified as renewable power plants by the EPA. A controversial Baltimore plant is under construction as well. More common in Europe, they may be catching on stateside due to low recycling rates.
City Gives Incentives To Recycle
In Corpus Christi, Texas, officials have entered a public-private partnership to give people more reasons to recycle.
Massachusetts Has the Nation’s Only Successful Food Waste Ban
The state has reduced its methane emissions by 25.7 percent per ton of waste following a law that seeks to eliminate food waste from landfills.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.
From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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