ILSR sees composting growth ahead

The not-for-profit, Washington-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) says community composting operations have more than doubled since 2016 based on a survey it conducted last year.

ILSR describes such community efforts as “those that keep the composting process, product and benefits local.” The group says the “remarkable job creation potential” of the sector should receive notice from policymakers.

In its newly released report “A Growing Movement: 2022 Community Composter Census,” which includes survey results, ILSR says “policymakers should take notice of” what it calls wide-ranging benefits tied to community composting efforts.

The report indicates that if half the food scraps flowing to landfills and incinerators were diverted to community composters, more than 50,000 new jobs could be created in cities where these composters operate.

In comparison, ILSR says the coal mining industry, which it calls “a frequent focus of policymakers at every level in the United States,” employs around 59,000 people.

“Community composters know firsthand the economic, environmental and social benefits they bring to their communities,” says Clarissa Libertelli of ILSR, the report’s lead author. “They see it daily, in every school child wowed by the steam coming off a compost pile and every trash can no longer overflowing with rotting food scraps.

“This census is a step toward ensuring community composting is recognized as a key player in the larger composting industry and an absolutely vital component of the solution to our food waste problem.”

Co-author Brenda Platt adds, “Now is the time for massive investment in localized regenerative green enterprises and programs that build equitable and healthy communities.”

The ILSR survey found that 90 percent of community composting operations responding started in 2010 or later. This, the group says, has created “an environment ripe for innovation and investment as it seeks to identify the best methods to scale within each of the communities they serve.”