Freestate Farms Opens Advanced Composting Facility in Manassas, VA

Freestate Farms’ new facility recycles food and yard waste from local cities, businesses, and individuals into high-quality compost.

MANASSAS, VA., September 10, 2020 – Freestate Farms and Prince William County will celebrate the official ribbon cutting of the new advanced composting facility in Manassas, VA on September 16, 2020. The partnership is expected to extend the life of the landfill by 10-15 years by diverting food and yard waste to the composting facility, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create high-quality compost and soil products for beneficial use throughout the region.

Prince William County awarded a 20-year contract to Freestate Farms in 2015 to run its composting facility and, as part of the contract, Freestate Farms financed and built this advanced composting facility. The new facility will almost triple throughput, improve the quality of compost, and add the ability to process food waste by using state-of-the-art composting technology and processes. With the completion of this first phase of construction, the facility will now recycle ~80,000 tons of yard and food waste each year (increased from ~30,000 tons of yard waste per year).

“We built a facility that would create high-quality compost while also minimizing the region’s and our own environmental footprint,” said Douglas Ross, Freestate Farms’ CEO. “Because of compost’s organic qualities, its use has powerful benefits in everything from backyard plant and vegetable gardens to green roof construction, sports turf management, and regional soil erosion and sediment control projects.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food and yard waste accounts for 28.3% of the total waste in the United States. When placed in landfills, this organic material does not have access to oxygen and subsequently releases methane gas to the atmosphere, which is 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Recycling this waste prevents related methane gas emissions and creates a compost that returns important nutrients back to the earth. Overall, the benefits are increased soil health and productivity, reduced water use and pollution, minimized greenhouse gas emissions, and more sustainable communities.

Freestate Farms
13012 Balls Ford Road
Manassas, VA 20109

For more information, please contact Richard Riedel at 703-542-4540, or rich@freestatefarmsva.com.

Freestate Farms recycles food and yard waste into high-value compost and soils, generates renewable energy, and produces organic fruits and vegetables. The company does this by tailoring leading technologies and processes to the needs of a local community, which results in increased soil health and productivity, reduced water use and pollution, minimized greenhouse gas emissions, and overall more sustainable communities.
www.freestatefarmsva.com

This release was published on openPR.