Kittitas SWMP Update_Approved_(2020-07-09)

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2020 Solid Waste and Moderate Risk Waste Management Plan Update AX0304191054PDX 7-5 7.2.5.2 Materials Exchange Program Continue to work with nonprofit organizations, such as Iron Straw, Northwest Ecobuilding Guild, Habitat for Humanity, and any others that are established to promote a materials exchange program or reuse store for C&D materials. 7.2.5.3 Evaluate Flow Control Measures A flow control ordinance would require all solid waste generated in unincorporated areas and within the corporate limits of cities and towns of Kittitas County to be disposed of at a Kittitas County solid waste facility. Enforcement of the ordinance could be through local law enforcement. 7.3 Agricultural Waste Agricultural wastes are by-products of farming and ranching that include crop harvesting waste and manure. As shown in the land use map provided as Figure 2-1, most of the commercial agriculture in Kittitas County is practiced in the lower part of the County. 7.3.1 Existing Conditions According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the number of farms in Kittitas County leveled from 1,038 farms in 2007 to 1,006 in 2012.11 The total farm acreage continues to decrease from 230,646 acres in 2002 to 183,124 in 2012. The average farm size has decreased 27 percent since 2002 averaging 182 acres in 201. A rural waste characterization study conducted for Ecology attempted to quantify and characterize the types of waste disposed, recycled, or reused for four agricultural groups (field crops, orchards, vegetables, and livestock). The study found that less than 1 percent of the waste generated by these agricultural groups was landfilled. The primary means of handling waste generated by agriculture was through beneficial use, such as replenishment of soil nutrients. Given the rural nature of Kittitas County, the potential exists for the generation of significant amounts of biomass that could be used in the production of one of the above-mentioned products. In 2005, a biomass inventory and bioenergy assessment was completed for Washington State. The goal of the study was to inventory Washington’s bioresources as a first essential step to implement the state’s Beyond Waste strategy for reduction of organic residuals in solid waste. This inventory also is seen as a first step toward a sustainable energy policy and vision within the state.12 The project geographically identified 45 potential biomass sources in Washington at a County level. The biomass inventory was then converted to potential energy production using anaerobic digestion (for nonwoody plants) and simple combustion (for woody plants) as representative conversion technologies. Electrical energy production was the calculated product for this study; however, the report notes the need for additional study for other products such as fuels and chemical byproducts. The study results show that Kittitas County has an annual production of almost 75,000 tons of underutilized dry biomass (primarily barley straw and cattle manure) that via combustion and anaerobic digestion over 50 million kWh of electrical energy. Kittitas County could further investigate the generation and availability of these feedstocks, and the potential for beneficial reuse of biomass within the County. 11 2012 Census of Agriculture, Kittitas County, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington Agricultural Statistics Service. 12 Washington State University and Washington State Department of Ecology, Biomass Inventory and Bioenergy Assessment: An Evaluation of Organic Material Resources for Bioenergy Production in Washington State, December 2005. Revised 2011. [}) . . . . .