On April 2016, the Miami Beach Botanical Garden (MBBG) established a composting program at the garden that was free for residents. This composting program accepts approximately 100 gallons or 834 lbs. of food scraps per week from an estimated 50-100 participating families. The MBBG estimates they have received a total 25,000 lbs. of food scraps since the inception of the program. The final compost product is either used within the garden and/or sold at the garden store. The program is extremely successful and has reached capacity at the MBBG site.
At the July 17, 2019 City Commission meeting, the Mayor and Commission allocated $75,000 to create the North Beach Composting Hub (the Hub) at 85 Street and Collins Avenue. The City entered an agreement on January 13, 2020 with the MBBG to manage the site in North Beach (Attachment A). The agreement with the MBBG was for one year with a one-year renewal option.
The goal of the Hub is to increase residents’ engagement in waste reduction and sustainability. The primary objective for composting is to reduce the amount of food waste that is sent to landfills, and instead transform that food waste into usable compost soil. Creating awareness on the importance of waste reduction, repurposing of materials and creation of organic gardens enhances the quality of life in our community.
City responsibilities included providing access to water, installing landscaping, adding metal fencing, providing parking accessibility, waste services, and placing educational signage. Per the agreement, MBBG staff is required to set up and maintain the compost piles, monitor the material that is dropped off, maintain the drop-off bin, and provide educational opportunities. The official launch of the Hub was held virtually on August 26, 2020.
Participation has grown to over 250 participants/families and continues to steadily increase. The Hub’s weekly average is approximately 80 gallons or 750 lbs. of food scraps from residents. The MBBG has expanded the site to accept an additional 120 gallons or 1,000 lbs. of food scraps to be able to accept leftover food waste from the community food drives. The site is continuing to grow in popularity and additional labor costs are necessary to process the food waste into compost. In order address the increase in drop offs, the MBBG is requesting $15,000 for the remainder of FY20/21 to properly manage and maintain the Hub (Attachment B). The Sustainable Initiatives Fund is a potential source to cover the $15,000. This will include tools, equipment, labor, and outreach events. A budget enhancement for FY2021/2022 was submitted to continue operations of the Hub in the upcoming fiscal year.
If the City were to expand the number of composting sites to include an additional location, it is estimated the cost will range between $40,000-$60,000 for the City to build out and for the MBBG manage the site. The site size requirement would need to be between 750-1000 square feet and could service approximately 100-250 households. The cost estimate includes city expenses including fence installation, irrigation, signage, outreach, and marketing. This additional site can be started for less than the North Beach Hub because there were lessons learned from the first project. The compost program is currently being managed by the Environment & Sustainability Department’s Sustainability Division and takes approximately 1-3 hours a month in staff time. The Administration will be submitting a budget enhancement for FY21/22 for a Middle Beach location.