County Executive Joe Parisi announced in a recent press release that Dane County is partnering with Purple Cow Organics — a regional expert and resource for composting since 2008 — to expand food waste and yard waste composting services in the county over the next five years.
The agreement allows Dane County to divert food waste and organics years ahead of its planned sustainability campus completion. It will also prevent food waste and organics from entering the landfill.
Starting in late 2024, the program will have one year of pilot and setup phasing before expanding to full volumes in 2025. The new compost program will be able to accept up to roughly 22,000 tons of leaf, brush, and yard waste and up to 1.2 million pounds of food waste per year. Dane County will be able to expand these volumes as program participation grows.
The program will work with local organizations and municipalities to target food waste collection through specified drop off locations before expanding to partnering with local point sources, such as local universities, grocery stores, and other large pre-consumer food waste generators.
Dane County will also partner with the city of Madison to accept its yard and leaf waste collections through this compost program, and it will expand education and outreach countywide to begin taking food waste to Purple Cow Organics.
