Cedar Grove Composting joins LinkUp program

2004 Archived News

Cedar Grove Composting, a company that converts yard and food waste into compost products rich in organics, is the newest partner in King County's LinkUp program. LinkUp was developed to assist businesses in using more recycled materials in the products they make.

Cedar Grove takes grass, leaves and yard trimmings from the yard waste collection programs in Seattle and in many communities in King and Snohomish counties, and has begun accepting residential food waste regularly from several area municipalities, as well. The facility also collects some wood waste. These waste materials are processed to make a line of nutrient-rich compost and soil-enhancement products.

Currently, King County is focusing on five priority materials for recycling: yard waste, food waste, paper, wood and electronics. Together, these materials account for nearly 54 percent of the waste in the county's landfill. Cedar Grove processes four of these five priority materials (all except electronics) in its composting process.

In 2002, King County's Solid Waste Division launched a pilot program to collect residential food waste for composting. Some 1,700 residents in Issaquah, Lake Forest Park, Redmond and Kirkland participated by collecting food scraps and soiled paper, such as pizza boxes, with their yard waste, rather than putting it into garbage bins. During the two-year pilot, the county sent food and soiled paper waste to Cedar Grove for composting. As a result of the pilot's success, several cities have added food waste collection services in their communities, and King County will undertake a commercial food waste collection pilot soon.

In addition, May 2 – 8 has been designated "Compost Awareness Week" by the U.S. Composting Council. A statewide proclamation from Governor Gary Locke, signed this month, added Washington to the list of states supporting the awareness campaign.

Cedar Grove owners began operations in waste management in 1938. In the late 1980s, the company started recycling yard waste into compost. In 2003, Cedar Grove was selected as one of two sites in the U.S. to use a new technology called the Gore Cover In-Vessel System, developed by Gore Creative Technologies Worldwide. The system uses a specially designed membrane (Gore Cover) to create an enclosed space that controls odors and microorganisms and creates a consistent composting process unaffected by outside environmental conditions. The high-tech system shortens the time required to produce finished, premium-grade compost.

Cedar Grove's main facility in Maple Valley, Wash., currently processes about 25,000 tons of material in peak months and is expecting to receive significantly increased food scrap volumes in the future. The company sells about one-half million bags of compost each year to consumers, in addition to its commercial and municipal accounts.

This summer, Cedar Grove will open a new facility in Everett, Wash. About 250 people are employed by the family-owned business.

Cedar Grove products are available for pick-up or delivery from its Maple Valley location, or from many dealers throughout Washington, western Oregon and Idaho. Additional product information is available at www.cedar-grove.com.

The LinkUp team will work with Cedar Grove Composting to help expand its customer base by increasing awareness of its products and services in the municipal sector.

LinkUp was launched in 2000 to encourage manufacturers to incorporate more recycled materials into their products. The program, sponsored by the King County Solid Waste Division, offers free, customized technical and promotional support to eligible businesses.

LinkUp works with three to five new businesses each year. For more information about the LinkUp program, contact Kris Beatty at 206-296-3740 or visit the program Web site.