West Side Market plans to use two composters to minimize food waste

By Alysse Dalessandro

Mayor Jackson named sustainability one of the City of Cleveland’s top priorities at the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit in August 2009. It seems only fitting that the West Side Market, the city’s only remaining publicly owned market, would receive a green redesign for its 2012 centennial.

The city of Cleveland looked like a much different place in 1912, but one thing that has changed very little over the past century is the West Side Market. Located in the Ohio City neighborhood, the West Side Market has served as a tourist and local attraction since inception.

“The market is a jewel that was dedicated to the city with the clause that it would always be operated as a public market,” Eric Wobser, executive director of Ohio City Near West Development Corp., says. “We have an opportunity with the centennial to make sure it shines for the next 100 years.”

With the number of visitors to the market, the city of Cleveland recognized the large amounts of waste generated. Fran DiDonato, program manager in the city’s Office of Sustainability, conducted a waste audit for the market spanning three weekends in July of 2008. Along with the help of a nonprofit organization, Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, the city found that on average the vendors generate 50,000 tons of waste, costing the city $47 per ton to dispose.
The city’s solution comes in the form of composting, in which organic waste decomposes and turns into a mineral-rich product useable in gardens.

A grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources along with a matching grant from the city’s five-year capital improvement plan will fund two composters for the market. Since the composting process takes two weeks to “cook,” according to DiDonato, the use of two composters will allow for constant use. DiDonato estimates these composters will divert 70 percent of the market’s waste.
“With organic scraps, you’re paying for the water embedded in fruits and vegetables that you’re throwing away, so this is going to save us a lot of money,” DiDonato says.

The project is still in the works, but DiDonato says the plan is to locate closed bins that do not produce odor and that have a way to collect the water for re-use. She estimates that they will be in the ground and functioning by this summer.

Not only will the city benefit as the owner of the West Side Market, but it also can provide the compost to the city’s Rockefeller Park Greenhouse and 225 community gardens. DiDonato says the city spends $15,000 per year on the gardens.

“By implementing a compost program, we will be able to save the city money, provide a better and cleaner environment for the market, and have an educational opportunity to show that the city cares about sustainability,” DiDonato says.
The market is not the first major venue to compost. According to DiDonato, the Browns Stadium already composts, and Quicken Loans Arena is part of a pilot project in which a private company is collecting food scraps from downtown businesses. Progressive Field also has plans to compost at the beginning of this baseball season.

Wobser worked for Mayor Jackson for the past three and a half years in special projects. He emphasizes the city’s commitment to sustainability. “We’ve worked to implement projects that make Cleveland more sustainable,” he says. “West Side Market is unique in that it’s a city-owned facility in which tons of waste are produced.”

Composting is only one part of the project to celebrate West Side Market’s 100th anniversary. Wobser says there are several projects that are designed to make a positive impact on the neighborhood.

In addition to a $1.5 million renovation of Market Square park across from the West Side Market, the building itself will become a more energy-efficient structure. “We are looking at improving energy efficiency as a key component in positioning the market for the next 100 years,” Wobser says.

Cleveland’s sustainable efforts have not gone unnoticed— the city ranked second in local food and agriculture in SustainLane’s 2008 U.S. City Rankings of the 50 most-populous cities and now ranks 16th overall. “From an Iron Chef to the West Side Market, Cleveland has a strong culinary tradition,” Wobser says. “Promoting the local food economy at the West Side Market economy as part of the centennial is a natural fit.”

For more information: city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/Government/CityAgencies/PublicUtilities/Sustainability