LUCKEY – Instead of plastic and glass, Luckey residents are now dumping egg shells, coffee grounds and
bacon grease in their recycling bins.
Starting today, the village of Luckey is one of about five communities in Ohio that are trying organic
recycling – for composting.
When resident Janet Holton first got the notice of the recycling changes, she was a bit concerned that
people were being asked to throw their table scraps into their recycling bins.
"Oh, gross," she said about mixing grease with newspapers.
But she, along with 111 other households in Luckey, is willing to give the new program a try.
"I’m in favor of it," Holton said. "I’m going to do it. Absolutely. I’m serious about the
environment."
The organic recycling project is a joint effort between the village of Luckey, NAT Transportation Inc.
and Hirzel Farms.
Mick Torok, of NAT Transportation which collects trash and recyclables in Luckey, came up with the idea
for the organic recycling while attending a conference in Wisconsin with Ken Rieman, director of the
Wood County Solid Waste Management District. Torok then talked with Joe Hirzel, at Hirzel Farms near
Pemberville, about adding the organic waste to the composting site already operated for the farming
operation.
"It all goes to a composting facility," Torok said organic waste picked up in Luckey.
That means a change for Luckey residents. Instead of regular recyclables, they are now being asked to put
all types of paper, plants and foods in their new 65-gallon carts. That includes grass, leaves, twigs,
flowers, fruits, vegetables, breads, dairy products, eggs, meat, bones, paper towels, coffee ground and
filters, plus the more traditional newspaper, magazines, cardboard, junk mail and writing paper.
"It’s pretty neat for a small town," Rieman said of the pilot project. "I think it’s
absolutely great that we’ve got some people willing to try this."

The switch to organic recycling was made for multiple reasons, according to Torok.
First, the more traditional recycling efforts in the village were not profitable, with just 700 to 1,000
pounds being collected each week.
"It just wasn’t enough to pay for the truck to go around town," Torok said.
Residents will still be able to recycle the standard glass bottles, metal cans and plastic jugs by
dropping them off at a trailer on the fourth Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to noon near the post
office.
Second, the pilot project could encourage other communities to start recycling composting items.
"We figure half of the material a family has are compostible," Torok said. "It’s all new
to us. But we’re hoping to get up to 2,000 pounds a week."
The composting carts will be picked up every Thursday.
Not everyone in the village, however, has been receptive to the change. At least an estimated 40 previous
recyclers were unwilling to participate in the new project.
"The negative reactions were few," Torok said. "But other folks were very receptive and
even enthusiastic."
Some residents were worried the food waste would stink in the recycling carts. But Torok explained that
whether in the trash or recycling containers, both are picked up weekly.
Holton shared those concerns about some of the food waste.
"Leaves and twigs – yea, yea," she said. "But I’m concerned about the animal products
going into it."
Most individuals don’t include meat products in home composting, agreed Rieman.
"You get the four-legged critters," he said.
But in a large composting operation like that at Hirzel Farms, the waste is processed continually and
quickly gets very diluted, Rieman said.
"Composing is not a neat operation. It can be messy. It takes some real management," he said.
"And they’ve done their research."
While organic composting is very new, Rieman believes it is the "new frontier" in recycling.

"I’m pleased to see them try it," he said. "When you look at everything that gets thrown
away, the big one that you can recover is food."