GENEVA, N.Y. — The Ontario County Landfill is set to shut down in 2028. Some in Geneva are using the time to get a head start on innovative ways to dispose of waste without the need for a landfill.

At the Geneva Resource Recovery Park, Jacob Fox gets rid of food scraps, and in a separate pile, yard waste. He is the CEO of Closed Loop Systems, a waste management company.

“We are trying to create the future of waste management and we see that as decentralized waste management where each community handles their waste on a local scale so we can maximize resource recovery,” said Fox.

Once the food scraps and yard waste have spent some time decomposing separately, they are mixed together. 

John Hicks, of Organix Green Industries, brings them to the trenches.

“We will probably put some worm dirt on top so the worms go to work, feeding the food waste, as well as eating the bulky material which is leaves and grass clippings,” said Hicks.

As Hicks gets more waste, Fox checks on some of the dirt that has already been in the trenches for several months.

“Soil microbes break down that material, so what I’m doing, so I’m poking through there to see how they are doing and when I notice dark, black looking soil like this, that’s how I know they are almost done with their work,” said Fox.

This is a process used to create vermicompost, which is a more nutrient-rich soil. It is one of the ways that Geneva is thinking about disposing of waste differently. The city’s Green Committee is using a behavior change company based in Brighton to see if they can do more. 

Impact Earth President Robert Putney says they are in the middle of a waste assessment.

“The best systems for waste is where you separate the different materials so you have different types of materials," explained Putney. "If you are talking about recycling specifically a plastic, glass and paper, etc. You have landfill-bound materials such as your biohazards and then you have things such as food waste. Those things should all be separated because they don’t all need to go to the landfill.”

Fox believes making the vermicompost at the resource recovery park can not only reduce the reliance of landfills but also tackle one of the biggest problems facing our planet.

“This is really our best chance and that can help improve our water quality, protect our lakes that we love so much is really healthy soil and this healthy soil is responsible for cycling carbon emissions so this soil can help solve climate change,” Fox exclaimed.