For a Sustainable Sonoma County
The creation of a new organics processing facility, which includes composting and anaerobic digestion, is being explored by the public agencies Zero Waste Sonoma and the City of Santa Rosa, with the private developer/operator Renewable Sonoma. A thorough environmental review must be undertaken for this project, which will address community concerns about possible environmental impacts. During that analysis, there will be several opportunities where formal community input and comment will be facilitated and encouraged. Informal public input is welcome at any time during the planning and development process.
Since there is currently no industrial organics processing facility within Sonoma County, all collected green material and food scraps are transported to compost facilities in Napa, Mendocino, Marin, and Contra Costa counties. Sending material out-of-county comes with significant costs, and putting trucks on the road for longer trips contributes to greenhouse gases. This new proposed organics facility would make out-hauling unnecessary and bring back valuable compost to the community. Farmers and residents alike will once again have access to high quality, locally produced compost at an affordable price.
