How the Compost Industry Is Growing and Changing

The compost industry is growing, and with growth comes change. Various factors are converging to spur growth and innovation, and the future of our industry is bright.

In this blog post, we’ll explain what changes the composting industry has gone through over the past couple of decades and what’s driving the evolution the industry is experiencing.

How has the compost industry grown and changed?

According to a report from The Environmental Research & Education Foundation, the number of compost facilities increased 55% from 2016 to 2021, and the tonnage of compost produced grew 83% during the same time frame. This growth can be attributed to the factors driving industry growth we cover below.

But the growth isn’t a recent phenomenon; the industry has been growing since the 1990s when solid waste diversion regulations started to be enacted. The U.S. EPA reports that between 2005 and 2018, municipal solid waste organics that were diverted from landfills and composted grew 21% and food waste composting grew 280% between 2000 and 2018.

State and local regulations attempting to divert green waste and food waste from landfills is helping drive demand for compost production but the growth is not consistent across the country. Currently, 17 states ban yard waste from landfills completely, and 4 allow it only if there is a landfill gas collection system in place. According to the EPA, 8 states had food waste diversion regulations in 2022, up from 3 in 2016.

There’s still room for growth, and that growth will come from food waste composting. Currently, 58% of yard waste is diverted from landfills and recovered for composting but a mere 4.8% of food waste is.

The composting industry is at a crossroads. Many existing facilities were started when green waste regulations were put into place, which created a market for compost producers to take available waste and transform it into a valuable, sellable product. Some are resistant to change and add food waste composting to their operations because it typically requires additional permits and machinery. But, the opportunity is there!

What’s driving the composting industry’s change and growth?

There are three main factors driving the evolution of the composting industry, which we’ll cover one by one.

Regulations.

Increasingly, regulations have been enacted to keep organics out of landfills. According to the U.S. EPA, composting regulations are set at the state and local government level, which makes listing them all here nearly impossible.

As a summary, however, some states ban or restrict landfill disposal of organic materials like green waste and food waste. Some of those state regulations only impact large generators of organic materials and others cover all generators, down to individual households.

Increasingly, cities are also enacting food waste recycling regulations. New York City, Seattle, and Austin have passed laws requiring households to separate food waste from other waste and offer curbside food waste collection programs and transforms it into compost. The Composting Consortium reports that curbside food waste collection has surged by 49% since 2021.

More awareness of the implications of waste disposal.

As participation in recycling in general has grown, so has the awareness of organics recycling and composting. According to the EPA, recycling has increased from <7% in 1960 to the current rate of 32% and the message about what makes up our landfills has spread, causing people to think about their own personal impact on landfills.

That’s because the message is powerful: Food is the single most common material sent to landfills, making up 24.1% of municipal solid waste, and when other organic and green waste is added, the number climbs to 51.4%

Lower barriers to market entry.

Organic waste is a resource that is plentiful in every area of the country and the machinery and technology needed to transform waste into valuable end products like compost is plentiful. In fact, as composting and organics recycling grows, so does the technology and machinery advancements.

And although state licensure and permitting conditions exist for composting facilities, their requirements are not overly prohibitive.

Composting is a key part of the circular economy – a system where waste materials are turned into new products to recapture their intrinsic value, and the compost industry is growing. It’s next giant leap forward will involve food waste composting, and we’re standing on the doorstep of the next goldrush of compost production.

Ecoverse provides the best environmental and aggregate processing machinery to the North American market, including a complete lineup of machinery to help you turn food waste into compost. We help you do something amazing: create something from nothing by converting waste products into sellable goods. Plus, do it more efficiently or faster. Simply put, Ecoverse helps you do more things, and do them better so your operation can achieve unprecedented levels of production and profitability.

Want to learn how we can help your organization do more, better? Contact us!