The Important Role for Micro and Community Composting
1. A G R O U N D B U I L D I N G O P P O R T U N I T Y
M I C R O A N D
C O M M U N I T Y C O M P O S T I N G
A v i t a l p a r t o f s u s t a i n a b l e f u t u r e
U S C C A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e & T r a d e S h o w
J a n u a r y 2 3 r d , 2 0 1 8 , A t l a n t a
Brenda Platt, @PlattBrenda
Institute for Local Self-Reliance, @ilsr
Composting for Community Project
2. Our Mission:
To provide innovative strategies, working models and timely information to support
environmentally sound and equitable community development.
Programs:
Waste to Wealth
Composting for Community
Community Banking
Community Owned Broadband
Energy Democracy
Community Scaled Economy
The Public Good Blog
3.
4. Job Creation:
Reclamation vs. Disposal
Type of Operation Jobs/
10,000 TPY
Computer Reuse 296
Textile Reclamation 85
Misc. Durables Reuse 62
Wooden Pallet Repair 28
Recycling-Based Manufacturers 25
Conventional MRFs 10
Composting 4
Disposal Facilities 1
MRF = materials recovery facility
TPY = tons per year
8. 5th National Cultivating Community Composting Forum
and Best Practices in Community Composting Workshop
Monday and Tuesday in Atlanta, here at the US Composting Council!
12. Places that are home to numerous locally
owned businesses are more prosperous,
sustainable, and resilient than those in
which much of the economy is controlled
by a few big corporations.
13. Composting = Local Jobs
Organics do not ship well
Composting is small-scale
Jobs are local
Compost products are used locally
Dollars circulate within local
economies
Local = good for local economies
Composting linked to urban food
production
Composting diversifies farm
products and saves money
Ned Foley, Two Particular Acres
14. Smaller facilities
employ more per ton
Company Small Medium Large
Number of facilities 10 7 6
Range in size TPY 16 - 4,000 5,400 – 19,010 20,000 – 75,000
Range in FTE Jobs 1 - 8 2 - 10 5 - 26
Total TPY Processed 21,306 79,278 257,646
Total FTE Jobs 29 47 71
Jobs/10,000 TPY 13.6 5.9 2.8
Source: Brenda Platt, et. al, Pay Dirt: Composting in
Maryland to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs & Protect
the Bay, ILSR, May 2013. www.ilsr.org/paydirt
FTE = full-time equivalent TPY = tons per year
Photo courtesy of Veteran Compost, MD
17. Earth Flow, Univ. of Maine
University of Maine (Orono).
Finished compost is used on
campus as a soil amendment, for
landscaping, farming, and for
horticultural classes. Goal is to
produce 10 lbs of salad mix per
day for one of the cafeterias.
18. O2 Aerated Compost Bins:
St. John’s University, New York City
(Photo: O2 Compost)
21. Source Reduction
Prevention. Do not generate food waste in the
first place! Reduce portions, buy what you
need, and organize your fridge for optimal
food usage.
22. Edible Food Rescue
Feed hungry people. Divert food not suitable for
people to animals such as backyard chickens or
to local farmers’ livestock.
25. Medium-Scale, Locally-Based
Composting or anaerobic digestion at the small
town or farm scale. These systems handle
typically between 10 and 100 tons per week and
are designed to serve small geographic areas.
26. Centralized Composting or
Anaerobic Digestion
Facilities serving large geographic areas that
typically handle more than 100 tons per week.
Material generally leaves the community in which it
is generated.
27. Mechanical Biological Mixed
Waste Treatment
Mixed garbage is mechanically and biologically
processed to recover recyclables and reduce
waste volume and the potential for methane
emissions before landfill disposal.
28. Landfill and Incinerator
Food waste should be banned from landfills and trash
incinerators due to their high capital costs, pollution,
and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
30. Orlando – Get Dirty for Valentine’s Day
FREE bins to City of
Orlando residents
o Free home delivery
o Assembled
o The Earth Machine
Launch February 14, 2015
“Get Dirty” Campaign
o Get Dirty for
Valentine’s Day
o Get Dirty with Your
Neighbors
3,068 delivered as of April
2016
32. Community Composting – growing fast
Compost builds community!
Download the free Growing Local Fertility: A Guide
to Community Composting at
www.ilsr.org/growing-local-fertility
33. Principles of Community Composting
Resources recovered
Locally based and closed
loop
Organic materials returned
to soils
Community-scaled and
diverse
Community engaged,
empowered, and educated
Community supported
Compost builds community!
34. Types of Community Programs
1. Community gardens
2. Farms
3. Schools
4. Drop-off networks
5. Collection entrepreneurs
6. On-site composters
7. Off-site composters
8. Demonstration and community
leader training sites
9. Worker-owned cooperatives
10. Home-based or homesteader hubs
Philly Compost offers pedal-powered
collection service to neighboring restaurants
within a 2-mile radius (Philadelphia)
46. DC Dept. of Parks & Rec’s 3-bin
system
“Knox” design by Urban Farm Plans (www.urbanfarmplans.com)
Wangari Garden, DC
47. DC DPR Community Compost
Cooperative Network
http://dpr.dc.gov/service/community-compost-cooperative-network
46 DPR gardens
have a Compost
Knox system
Each site has a
compost
manager
Each site has a
community
compost
cooperative
6 more planned
48. Project EDEN (SE DC)
Rebuilder: Xavier Brown
System Used: Xavier
partnered with DC DPR
to build an Urban Farm
Plans 3-bin system,
creating a new DPR
Compost Cooperative.
Xavier collaborated with
local residents and The
Green Scheme to build
the system.
Project EDEN (Everyone
Deserves to Eat
Naturally) is part of a
church community in
southeast DC.
49. Project EDEN (SE DC)
Materials Composted:
Garden waste created onsite, food
scraps from Compost Cab, straw,
woodchips and spent mushroom
spawn from Good Sense Farm.
At EDEN, Xavier is helping to
educate local youth about
gardening, composting and
entrepreneurship.
Pastor Cheryl Gaines believes that
the composting skills and
knowledge now being developed at
Project EDEN are providing
opportunities and alternatives to
the murder and gun violence that
have plagued her community.
56. Medium-Scale, Locally-Based
Composting or anaerobic digestion at the small
town or farm scale. These systems handle
typically between 10 and 100 tons per week and
are designed to serve small geographic areas.
59. Ag Choice, NJ example
“Small to midsize facilities, like Ag Choice, cannot survive under the current Class
C permit structure [in New Jersey]...
We now are permitted to process 38,000 cubic yards per year and currently
employ 16 full time staff members, and five individuals from our local ARC
program. What we have found is that bigger is not always better. We have
designed and operate a midsize facility that is controllable and profitable...
Quite frankly, we do not want to become a monster Class C facility. We firmly
believe we can be successful and impactful by keeping things smaller and more
manageable.”
– Jay Fischer, Founder & CEO
60. What can you do? Some ideas…
Support diversified infrastructure
Technical assistance and tools for
locally based systems
Support locally based systems
Support reasonable policies & regs
Procurement of finished compost
Renewed focus on SCHOOLS
Equipment for community scaled
systems
Support training and well operated
sites
Photos: NYC Compost Project
64. Hierarchy to Reduce Food
Waste and Grow Community
Support a Distributed System
65. Contact
Brenda Platt
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
bplatt@ilsr.org
@PlattBrenda
www.ilsr.org
“What Is Community Composting” video:
https://ilsr.org/video-community-composting/