Partner Resources

Composting Grows With A Little Help From Our Friends

There is stellar work going on in non-profit organizations, municipalities and governments at all levels on all the tools YOU need to start, scale up or multiply compost facilities or programs in your community.

CASE STUDIES

City of Minneapolis, MN

Town of Kingston, NY

City of Napa, CA

City of Fayetteville, AR

COMPOSTING

• Posters: Compost Impacts More than You Think.
  Composting protects the soil and climate while creating jobs. Learn how in this series of posters, available in a variety of formats for easy sharing and distribution.
• A Users Guide to Compost
  Compost is a natural amendment for your lawn or garden, and can be used regularly to enrich your soil. This guide is designed to help understand what compost is and ot get the most from the compost that you buy.
• Community Toolkit
  Adding Food Waste to a Yard Trimmings Compost Facility This resource was developed to help municipal operators considering adding food waste to yard trimmings composting sites. This toolkit helps operators determine whether introducing food waste to their operation is a good fit. Topics covered include: why an operation may want … Read more
• PreTreatment of Organic Materials for Composting
  Review the USCC’s equipment directory for the difference between pre-treatment options and in-vessel and outdoor compost equipment. Learn the difference between dehydration, curing and pretreatment. CalRecycle has an excellent resource: https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/food/commercial/dehydrators The Composting Collaborative developed a grant-funded directory of companies providing pre-treatment (in many cases, prior to curing) compost equipment … Read more

PROGRAMS

• Quantifying Existing Food Waste Infrastructure in the U.S., 2019
  A survey to quantify and analyze full-scale food waste composting infrastructure in the U.S
• Program Implementation Case Studies
  The Natural Resources Defense Council has issued a number of case studies focused on cities who undertook various models of food waste reduction, rescue and composting.
• BPI Labelling Guidelines
  This 2020 guide, the result of a lengthy stakeholder process, provides guidelines to compostable products manufacturers and resellers about best practices for labelling.
• Growing Local Fertility: A Guide to Community Composting
   This guide aims to strengthen expansion of community scale composting by describing successful initiatives, their benefits, how these initiatives can be replicated, key start-up steps, and the need for private, public, and non-profit sector support. 
• Mapping Urban Access to Composting Programs
  Interactive maps and charts of municipally-run and privately-run composting programs, available on Tableau Public. These visualizations seek to provide insight into which cities in the US have access to composting programs that accept food waste and/or compostable packaging.
• State of Organics Recycling in the U.S.
  2017, data that states had compiled about organics recycling activities
• A Guide to Conducting a Food Waste Assessment
  This guide explains how to conduct a food waste assessment. It lays out the steps to achieve a baseline measurement, and how you can use this measurement to set goals and track your organization’s progress towards reducing wasted food.
• REFED: Roadmap to 2030
  A look at the food supply chain identifying seven key action areas where the food system should focus efforts in the next ten years, including a detailed financial analysis to help direct private, public and philanthropic capital investment to fund these efforts. Composting is in Insight #7.
• IFSC Residential Compost Guide
  This guide contains answers to key questions about food scrap composting, descriptions of the types of residential composting programs in Illinois, resources: local, regional and national, and case studies from Illinois.
• Excess Food Opportunities Map
  The Excess Food Opportunities Map supports nationwide diversion of excess food from landfills. The interactive map identifies and displays facility-specific information about potential generators and recipients of excess food in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors and also provides estimates of excess food by generator type.

SITE PLANNING

• Compostable Products Decision Making Guide
  Decision Making Guide to Accepting or Rejecting Compostable Products
• Odor Control 101 – Practical Guide to Managing Odor
  This webinar reviews the prevention of compost odors, the conditions that underlie odor problems and the issues they can cause.
• Water Quality Protection at Compost Sites
• Compost Operator Guidebook
  This document, prepared by the Michigan Recycling Coalition, RRS and Michigan EGLE, presents a series of Best Management Practices for Composting which provide technical information and assistance on the operation and management of compost sites, especially those that process yard trimmings and “diminimus” (5% or less) amounts of other organic … Read more
• In the Public Interest Guide
  A guide put out by In the Public Interest on the structuring of public-private partnerships.
• The Value of Compostable Packaging
  This report  Report explores how compostable packaging may enable increased food scrap diversion, building feedstock for compost manufacturers.
• Compost Equipment Factsheet
   An overview of feedstock and site considerations when selecting equipment for your operation

EDUCATION

• How2Compost
   Standardized on-package label that clearly communicates composting instructions
• Curb to Compost Toolkit
  Find great tools to quickly educate the community if your city considers piloting a residential curbside food scrap collection program – community members should learn why they should take action to participate and what the benefits are of composting and compost.
• Evaluation and Ongoing Education: International Compost Awareness Week
   Use the resources on this page to set up local proclamations, events and promotions around composting.

MARKETING

• Various Compost Use Applications
  View a series of videos on various compost use applications to understand better the many options for compost markets.
• Case Studies for Department of Transportation Use of Finished Compost
  This study was developed to assist those individuals and organizations involved in the maintenance and management of roadsides and highways.
• USCC STA Certified Compost Participants Map
   Learn who is carrying tested compost and where they are located.
• Analysis of the Barriers and Opportunities for the Use of Compost in Agriculture, 2018
  A look at strategies that are employed to address nutrient loss reduction, water quality, and soil health, in addition to examining the viability of the use of compost on mid and large-scale farms and any related challenges, 
• Model Procurement Policy
  The Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Law Institute have produced a model policy for municipalities wishing to improve compost use by establishing policies for using compost within municipal landscaping and land projects. Model Compost Procurement Policy: With and Without Commentaries

PROCUREMENT DOCUMENTS

Please find here links to procurement documents involving everything from waste audits and studies, to program feasibility and design; collection program and hauling, facility design and operation; public private partnerships, school composting procurement and public-private (P3) partnerships.

These documents are not being endorsed in terms of quality, but are listed as resources for others who are writing bids for these services.

COLLECTION OR CONSOLIDATION

City of Shakopee

County of Sacramento

City of Los Banos

City of Palo Alto

COLLECTION/PROCESSING COMBINED

City of Carlsbad

City of Kirkland

COLLEGE/SCHOOLS

Town of Durham

City of Sacramento

Henderson County

DESIGN, OPERATION & PROCESSING

District of Oak Bay

Ventura County

City of Boulder

Susitna Alaska

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

City of Ann Arbor

City of Contra Costa

Zero Waste Youth Education Program

PLANS AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES

City of Davis

Colorado

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

City of Ann Arbor

City of Philadelphia

WASTE AUDITS/WASTE COMPOSITION

Chester County

Sonoma County