Group proposes community composting program to meet mandate, create local jobs

A local business owner has proposed a community composting program to the Indio Sustainability Commission that could help the city meet state recycling requirements while creating local jobs and saving taxpayer money currently spent on waste disposal.

Prema Walker, founder and CEO of Prema Permaculture and Composting, spoke to the commission Monday evening, outlining how small-scale composting sites could help the city comply with California Senate Bill 1383 while keeping tax dollars in the community.

The goal of the bill is to divert organic waste from landfills, where decomposing materials release methane into the atmosphere. The law requires cities to divert food waste and other organic materials to recycling programs instead of sending them to landfills.

Under the state mandate, Indio must purchase 7,330 tons of composted material annually, a requirement that Sara Toyoda, the city’s environmental programs coordinator, said costs about $72,000 a year. Cities that fail to meet compliance face fines of up to $10,000 per day.

“We are relying 100% on waste haulers or commercial producers and sending those tax dollars out of the city, out of our communities,” Walker said. “What I’m proposing here is establishing community composting sites where we can create jobs, close the loop by composting those organic waste, creating compost, use it to grow more food and create access to fresh food in our communities.”

To meet the bill’s ambitious goals and avoid costly fines, Walker proposes the city help establish small-scale community composting operations. By investing in a community composting site, the city could claim up to 10% of its total procurement requirement, or 733 tons worth of credit, without having to actually purchase any composted material. 

The proposal includes purchasing a shipping container that has been converted into an autonomous composting machine. The solar-powered unit costs between $125,000 and $200,000 and can process 200 to 600 tons of material per year. The city could claim up to $15,000 annually in equipment costs toward its procurement target.

Walker said the unit could break even within five to eight years depending on how much waste it processes.

Walker has already demonstrated the concept at Indio High School, where she has been working with students since late 2023. The school program has composted 92,000 pounds of organic waste using manual methods and student volunteers.

Serina Ruiz-Duarte, a biology teacher and environmental club advisor at Indio High School, testified about the program’s impact on students.

“To see them do what they did at the school site was amazing,” Duarte said. “Students can have a bad day and go to the dirt and kick up some dirt and kick up some chips and bury some nasty fruit, and they made an impact and it was very healing in that capacity.”

Walker, a mechanical engineer who has operated in the Coachella Valley for three years, said she has established 11 community composting sites in the region and helped divert 650,000 pounds of organic waste from landfills. She has received $269,000 in funding for similar projects.

Commissioner Celina Jimenez said one sticking point with the plan could be the city’s franchise agreement with Burrtec.

“I know when we tried to partner with Imperial Western Products in Coachella, [Burrtec] came out very concerned and almost threatened the city with a lawsuit because they did not want anyone to come in and take what was theirs, which is waste diversion,” Jimenez said. “They also have a composting program so they became very sensitive.”

Overall, commissioners expressed interest in exploring grant opportunities and eventually bringing a proposal to the city council.

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