Municipal composting facilities make sense.

People in many places, especially in more populated areas, often have trouble finding appropriate sites for disposal of their leaves, weeds and brush.

Even if municipal trash haulers don’t specifically prohibit inclusion of such materials with regular trash, composting still makes better sense than dumping them into landfills.

Compost is beneficial for the land, including as a soil conditioner and fertilizer. It also is a natural pesticide for soil.

Not only is it used in gardens, but also in landscaping and larger-scale agricultural operations.

With all that in mind, the fact that the municipalities of Zelienople, Harmony and Cranberry Township are exploring the possibility of establishing a composting facility can only be seen as a positive initiative.

Residents of the municipalities should encourage their leaders to make the facility reality. Much good can come from it, especially helping to promote cleaner communities with more attractive curb appeal.

Today’s modern, methodical composting is aimed at maximizing the amount of compost generated. It’s a multi-step, closely monitiored process with measured inputs of air, water and carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials.

The facility that the three Butler County municipalities are considering would be aimed at another goal beyond the actual composting process. Included in the idea is making the facility an outdoor learning center for students of the Seneca Valley School District.

As an article in Sunday’s Butler Eagle noted, the proposed compost operation has gotten the attention of Seneca Valley officials to replace a program students attended at the Mc-Keever Environmental Learning Center, a Slippery Rock University facility in Mercer County.

Seneca Valley discontinued its involvement at McKeever for this school year because of the district’s serious budget challenges.

But even if the proposed compost facility becomes reality and students are involved with it, the district wouldn’t be wrong to try to revive student participation at McKeever in conjunction with the outdoor program that would be presented locally.

It’s understandable that, to keep the three-municipality composting facility operating, compost originating from it would be sold, to help defray the operation’s costs.

As the proposed composting project continues to evolve, other Butler County municipalities — or groups of municipalities — should watch the progress, with an eye to possibly creating a composting operation of their own.

Why burn and pollute the air or have hauled to landfills leaves, branches and other things that can be turned into environmentally friendly compost?

What Zelienople, Harmony and Cranberry Township are attempting to do has the potential to be a win-win-win venture that residents of those municipalities should look forward to supporting.

The municipalities’ involvement also is an excellent example of the kind of municipal cooperation state government more and more is encouraging.