“I’ve been thinking of it: it’s really like alchemy, making this compost, right? So like a little bit more of this, a little bit more of that, you know, like some magic happening here.””

Michal Duffey

NEDERLAND - The crew at the Nederland Transfer Station had a little extra pep in their step Wednesday afternoon, and for good reason: after years of planning, they officially launched their new in-vessel composting machine, affectionately dubbed “Oscar.”

With a ribbon cutting and a demonstration, the event marked a major milestone for Boulder County’s zero-waste efforts and the Nederland community’s push toward a circular, local economy.

Inside the big green machine, food scraps and wood chips are transformed over a 21-day cycle into compost, thanks to just the right mix of air, moisture, and time.

Before this upgrade, scraps collected at the station were hauled 21 miles to Boulder—a 42-mile round trip. With the new system in place, organic waste can now be processed and reused locally.

Michal Duffey, who organized the event and serves as Boulder County’s Zero Waste Program Manager, welcomed the crowd.

Duffey, who uses they/them pronouns, encouraged attendees to take in the artistic touches around the site and spoke about the collaborative effort behind the project.

“We love letting the Nederland character really shine,” they said.

Duffey was joined by several speakers who helped bring the project to life.

Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann addressed the crowd with enthusiasm, pausing to lead a cheer: “Can I get a compost on three? One, two, three…COMPOST!”

Stolzmann called the new composting system an example of practical climate action that doesn’t wait for outside permission.

“It’s not ‘we’ll start in 2030,’ or ‘we’ll start in 2040.’ It’s now,” she said. “This is a solution we can all be part of.”

She noted that keeping food out of landfills prevents the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and that applying compost to gardens and farms can help sequester carbon in the soil.

Cody J. Lillstrom, Deputy Director of the Resource Conservation Division, offered a bit of history. The Nederland Transfer Station began in the 1970s, he related, as what locals called “the green boxes,” a simple trash drop-off for residents.

Over time, it added recycling, scrap metal, and mattress collection, growing into a full transfer station.

The compost program itself began in 2015, using a trailer to transport materials down the mountain. While this method worked, Lillstrom said the team always hoped to keep composting local.

Thanks to voter-approved sustainability tax funding in 2016, and support from the Office of Sustainability, Climate Action, and Resilience, the dream became reality.

Duffey spoke of the new system’s connection to local materials. Residents bring their food scraps, and the adjacent sort yard supplies wood chips from fire mitigation work.

Combined, the two ingredients become compost, which will be available free of charge. For now, distribution is limited to five gallons per person per day, with plans to scale up depending on supply and demand.

Only food scraps are being accepted for the time being, Duffey explained that compostable cups and utensils are not currently allowed, and while small compostable bags are permitted, they’re not preferred.

“If you don’t need the bags, don’t use them,” they said. “Just bring your scraps in a bucket.”

Before the demonstration, Duffey took the time to thank the many individuals involved in the project, including architects Seth Jacobs and James Butler, building services staff, the sort yard team, and transfer station employees. Brennan, David, Elizabeth, and especially Billy Donovan received praise for their hands-on work.

Donovan, who started working at the transfer station in 2022, took the mic to explain how the system works.

He has nicknamed the machine “Oscar,” in reference to the Sesame Street trashcan character, and has been managing its daily operations since it launched about five weeks ago.

He walked the crowd through the process, which includes weighing the incoming scraps, mixing them with wood chips, monitoring air and moisture levels, and maintaining the machine.

The machine then grabbed hold of a 90-pound trashcan, raised it to height, and tipped it into the composter.

Though Oscar may look like a big green box, it’s equipped with a fan-driven aeration system with a huge augur, an irrigation nozzle, and a biofilter.

Donovan explained that he’s still learning how to adjust ratios, moisture content, and mix cycles to create the best compost possible.

Despite a few hiccups, like a broken thermometer probe and a low-pressure irrigation nozzle, the early results have been promising.

“The fact that we can lean in there and look at it, and it doesn’t smell? That’s incredible,” Donovan said. Unlike the old trailer, which was anaerobic and gave off a strong odor, Oscar produces a subtle, earthy smell that doesn’t attract flies or bears.

The finished compost is currently more chip-heavy than nutrient-dense, making it better for top-dressing than soil replacement, but Donovan expects it to improve as the curing process is refined. He’s already started piling compost to cure in the corner of the site.

As the event wrapped up, Duffey summed up the project as a combination of science, experimentation, and local pride. “I’ve been thinking of it: it’s really like alchemy, making this compost, right? So like a little bit more of this, a little bit more of that, you know, like some magic happening here.”