Consortium blueprint aims to scale composting infrastructure

The Composting Consortium, New York, in August released a new blueprint to guide municipal leaders in zero waste, solid waste and sustainability in establishing and scaling composting infrastructure and organics management programs across the country.

The report, “How Organics Diversion Can Help Achieve Zero Waste Goals: A Blueprint for Action,” co-authored with Eco-Cycle, Boulder, Colorado, is an essential guide for municipalities seeking to develop food scraps collection programs and to work with composters to meet zero waste and climate goals, the consortium said.

The consortium is a collaboration managed by the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, New York’

Alongside the release of the blueprint, the consortium invited U.S. municipalities and composters to join two newly launched platforms that support municipalities and composters in scaling organics infrastructure.

Diverting food scraps and yard waste through municipal organics programs provides environmental benefits such as improved soil health, water conservation, carbon sequestration and support for local economies and ecosystems, the collaborative said.

To support this diversion, the U.S. composting industry is in an early stage of transformation, the blueprint says. More composters are looking to accept and process more food waste; approximately 70% of composters who process food also accept and process some format of food-contact compostable packaging, with the understanding that accepting these materials helps bring in more food waste to their facilities. However, only 10% of U.S. households have access to organics recycling through drop-off and curbside organics collection programs, and only 4% of wasted food is sent to composters today.

“Since its launch in 2021, the Composting Consortium has been focused on moving the needle to change that statistic,” said Kate Daly, managing director and head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. “By creating this blueprint, we aim to equip municipal leaders with a basic how-to manual to launch or scale successful organics programs that contribute to a zero-waste future, clean organics streams and a thriving composting industry.”

The blueprint proposes an actionable framework that includes:

• Policy and program expansion for diverting food waste. This section does a deep dive into effective strategies for policy development. It explores methods to incentivize resident and business participation, while outlining pathways to maximize food waste diversion from landfills;
• Setting up programs and infrastructure. This section provides a clear roadmap for establishing new organics programs. It details best practices for collection methods, explores various processing options (composting facilities, anaerobic digestion) and offers guidance on navigating the critical process of contracting with composters;
• Communication with program participants. Recognizing the importance of resident and business engagement, this section provides a comprehensive communications toolkit. It outlines strategies for educating participants on proper sorting techniques, maximizing program participation and fostering long-term program success.

The collaborative said that to thoughtfully scale organics management, key stakeholders must collaborate. This helps ensure that composting programs and infrastructure are developed to meet the diverse needs of stakeholders across the organics value chain—from composters, to cities, residents and businesses.

Alongside the release of the blueprint, the consortium is launching two new platforms to engage directly with municipalities and composters across the country to support the scale-up of robust composting infrastructure:

The Composter Innovator Program aims to bring composters across the U.S. to the table to play an active role in shaping the future of the composting industry on topics like contamination, policy and funding food waste composting infrastructure. The collaborative said the group will take on important questions, including identifying the cost of processing compostable packaging and offering recommendations on how to allocate Extended Producer Responsibility funds to support composting infrastructure development.

The Municipal Partner Platform is a free-to-access platform for city officials focused on sustainability, zero waste and waste management. The platform connects officials with leaders nationwide to share and discuss best practices in starting and expanding organics collection and infrastructure programs.

More information about the two program are available at closedlooppartners.com/composting-consortium.

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