Creating more compost
Utilizing a $13,000 grant from the Southwest Missouri Solid Waste District N, Monett City Public Works crews have been busy this month recycling brush and wood chips into compost.
The Monett Public Works Compost Division is responsible for converting yard waste into usable compost and mulch. The Compost Center is located at 15th and Broadway in Monett. The facility itself was made possible by funding from the City, the Southwest Missouri Solid Waste Management District N. and the Department of Natural Resources Solid Waste Management programs.
Residents may drop off leaves, grass, hay, straw, and yard waste for composting from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.
Compost adds organic matter and helpful microorganisms to soil. It is made from yard waste, including leaves, grass clippings, cornstalks, hay, straw, wood chips and other plant debris, which are windrowed for decomposition to occur. The materials are then screened to uniform size and texture.
In March, the Public Works Department announced that it had run out of compost it produces and makes available to residents.
When it is available, compost is sold at the Monett Compost Center, beginning the first Saturday in March, and continuing while supplies last. Compost is only sold from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The cost is $10 per scoop for residents and $20 per scoop for non-residents. Because supplies are limited and compost takes time to create, each customer is limited to two scoops per visit.
Each scoop is approximately 2.5 cubic yards.
The $13,000 grant from the Southwest Missouri Solid Waste District N has allowed the city to utilize accumulated wood chips while also getting a head start on generating compost for this year’s sale in September.
The excess wood chips come from a variety of sources, including wood gathered by the City’s monthly brush collection, managed by Monett Public Works, and contractors who dump chipped brush at the city’s composting facility. Citizen and contractor brush taken to the Brush Drop-Off site on Farm Road 1100 is not used for composting.
Monett Public Works Superintendent Dave Dunn said the city ran out of compost March 13 this year. However, thanks to the Southwest Missouri Solid Waste District N grant, when the City begins selling compost again this September, a larger supply should be available to residents.
The grant amount is $13,000 from the Southwest Missouri Solid Waste District N and will be refunded to the city after the successful completion of the grant requirements.