Composting Consortium, a collaboration managed by the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, has officially announced the release of a new blueprint, which is designed to guide municipal leaders on zero waste, solid waste and sustainability. This is to help them establish composting infrastructure and organics management programs across the country. Named as How Organics Diversion Can Help Achieve Zero Waste Goals: A Blueprint for Action, and co-authored with Eco-Cycle, the stated guide is a framework for municipalities that are seeking to develop food scraps collection programs, as well as work with composters to meet zero waste and climate goals. To understand the significance of such a development, though, we must acknowledge how food waste in landfills is a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to climate change. Fortunately enough, diverting food scraps and yard waste through municipal organics programs has shown to reduce methane emissions and provide environmental benefits, such as improved soil health, water conservation, carbon sequestration, and support for local economies and ecosystems. This is largely why more and more composters are now looking to accept and process more food waste, with approximately 70% of those who process food now also accepting and processing some format of food-contact compostable packaging. Having said that, only 10% of U.S. households report to have access to organics recycling through drop-off and curbside organics collection programs, and only 4% of wasted food is sent to composters at present
Enter the new Composting Consortium’s new guide, which addresses that by, for starters, offering a dedicated section on policy and program expansion for diverting food waste. This section, in essence, touches upon effective strategies for policy development, while simultaneously exploring methods to incentivize resident and business participation. It also outlines practical pathways to maximize food waste diversion from landfills. Next up, the blueprint informs you on clear roadmap for establishing new organics programs. Here, it expands upon best practices for collection methods, explores various processing options (composting facilities, anaerobic digestion), as well as offers guidance on navigating the critical process of contracting with composters. Joining the same is a comprehensive communication tool kit, which emphasizes upon the importance of resident and business engagement. Hence, you can expect to learn about strategies for educating participants on proper sorting techniques, maximizing program participation, and fostering long-term program success.
Beyond the stated release, Composting Consortium is also launching two new platforms in Composter Innovator Program and Municipal Partner Platform, both meant to engage directly with municipalities and composters across the country for the purpose of supporting a robust composting infrastructure. Starting with the former, it basically hopes to help composters across the U.S. play an active role in shaping the future of the composting industry by offering education on topics like contamination, policy and funding food waste composting infrastructure. If we take a more day-to-day view of this platform, participants here 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.
As for the Municipal Partner Platform, it is a free-to-access platform for city officials focused on sustainability, zero waste and waste management. You see, the solution is seemingly well-equipped to connect officials with leaders nationwide for the purpose of sharing and discussing best practices to start and expand organics collection and infrastructure programs. Markedly, municipalities of all sizes and stages of development are free to reach out to the Composting Consortium and explore ways the network can help them achieve their goals of diverting food waste from landfills.
‘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,” said Kate Daly, Managing Director and Head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners.
