Growing appetite for community composting
As the latest Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) survey makes clear, community composters across the U.S. are stepping up, expanding operations, and diverting tens of millions of pounds of food scraps from landfills — all while keeping their work rooted in local communities. In 2024, 76 % of community composting programs reported scaling up, with many offering compost collection services and selling products made from organic materials. But despite this upward trend, these grassroots operations still face major hurdles: high permitting costs, restrictive zoning, and inconsistent government support that make it harder to expand access and affordability.
That’s why investing in composting infrastructure and policy matters. Composting doesn’t just reduce waste — it cuts harmful pollution from landfills, improves soil health, supports food systems, and creates local jobs. Research shows that composting facilities, especially smaller ones, offer significantly more employment opportunities per ton of organic material processed than landfills or incinerators — a powerful economic argument for states looking to scale up more sustainable alternatives to burning or burying organic waste.
Lawmakers in several states have the opportunity to invest in solutions that would bring composting within reach for many more people. In Maryland, advocates and policymakers have long worked to improve composting policy, pushing for laws that expand capacity across community gardens, farms, schools, and urban spaces rather than relying solely on large industrial sites. But there’s still room to build on this momentum. A 2026 bill would create three grant programs for wasted food reduction and diversion initiatives, including one that would administer grants to all Maryland counties.
Meanwhile, Michigan is also well poised to make community composting more widespread. While municipalities like Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are pioneering food scrap collection pilots and state agencies are offering recycling grants, much of Michigan’s food waste still ends up in landfills due to limited composting infrastructure. Lawmakers in Lansing could jump-start broader access — funding facilities, cutting red tape, and expanding curbside composting options — to turn organic waste into climate, economic, and community wins. Investing in composting is a sound fiscal choice. EGLE’s 2024 Economic Value and Characterization of MSW in Michigan report found that recovering more recyclable and compostable materials would generate $610–$825 million annually and create 3,300–4,500 jobs.
Scaling up affordable and accessible composting isn’t just good environmental policy — it’s a smart investment in resilient, equitable communities. State, local, and federal policymakers should take notice and make it a top priority.
