Waste Management

When a town provides a composting facility, this is a type of recycling because it has to be managed by the town. Conversely, if a household composts in their backyard, this is considered waste reduction as there is no municipal management and accompanying costs to the town. See the Waste Reduction and Reuse page.

Several towns provide composting at municipal facilities. These programs typically cannot accept food wastes, but they do accept grass clippings and leaves and possibly animal manure and wood chips.

Facilities that incorporate select food waste or other solid wastes into the compost pile need a special permit from the NH Department of Environmental Services.

For information about current composting opportunities in the Upper Valley, please have a look at this article written by the Commission staff in the summer of 2017.