The rise of mandatory commercial composting: Preparing your business for new municipal regulations
As local governments continue to look for ways to make their cities more sustainable, more and more are recognizing the benefits of diverting food waste from landfills. And while any time is a good time to start composting, it’s easier on your operations as a business owner or decision-maker to switch to composting before it becomes mandatory where you live, as it is in various parts of America right this minute.
We’re taking a look at what these mandates typically look like, as evidenced by the cities with them in place today, and laying out some pointers for ways to prepare and what you can expect.
Why cities are turning to composting
According to the EPA, food was the single largest component of municipal solid waste (MSW) in landfills in 2018, accounting for over 24% of all MSW disposed. That’s tough math to ignore when a solution as elegant as composting exists, especially given that 95% of the food sent to landfills is compostable.
Composting in general is great for its ability to return valuable nutrients to the soil of a community, for reducing the release of methane - a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change - and of course for freeing up landfill space. Anyone with food waste can make these happen via composting.
And while a mandate might force your hand and the transition to composting may be challenging at first, as a business, you’ll find additional benefits—including a powerful marketing tool, stronger brand loyalty, and increased employee engagement.
Where is composting already mandatory?
These cities currently require businesses to separate food and foodstuffs from their other waste streams…
San Francisco, CA
The City by the Bay has led the way with progressive legislation in the past, becoming the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags in 2007. Today, hundreds of cities and even multiple states do so. So it’s not outlandish to think San Fran’s composting requirement for businesses could spread beyond its boundaries.
Understandably, the city’s pioneering program, which went into effect in 2009, has served as a blueprint for other municipalities to follow.
Seattle, WA
Like San Francisco, Seattle is another West Coast town whose government has crafted innovative legislation to protect the environment, which has then spread across the country. For example, Seattle was the first to ban plastic straws and utensils in food service, a policy copied by cities as far away as Monmouth Beach, New Jersey and Fort Meyers, Florida.
Seattle’s code blocks residents and businesses alike from putting food scraps, compostable paper, yard waste, or recyclables in their garbage. This includes food-soiled products like paper towels, paper napkins, and cardboard. The city provides curbside food waste collection, or businesses may contract with a hauler or self-haul.
Austin, TX
The Lone Star State’s capital city is the first Texas locale to mandate composting for businesses. The requirement began phasing in in 2018 as part of Austin’s Universal Recycling Ordinance, and the city’s broader push to divert 90% of waste from landfills by 2040.
As in San Francisco, the Austin code…
requires source separation of compostables, recyclables, and landfill waste
mandates education and signage for residents and staff
covers multifamily properties (as of 2023); and
carries incentives for compliance and fines for non-compliance.
How to prepare your business for a composting mandate
Conduct a waste audit
A great early step is to identify how much and what kinds of waste your business produces in a week. This will give you an idea of how much food waste you’ll need picked up routinely, as well as how closely your employees follow waste guidelines (e.g. putting recyclables in the wrong bin).
An audit involves:
collecting waste for the determined period
manually sorting it into categories (e.g. landfill, recyclables, compostables)
weighing the volume of each category
analyzing your waste output.
Consider your audience
If your city follows San Francisco’s example, you’ll be responsible for the at least annual education of the people who interact with your business. This may include employees, contractors, janitors, and even tenants. What this education looks like will vary based on the audience.
For example, you might opt to provide tenants with instructions as part of a welcome kit when they move in, as well as sending an annual email to refresh their memory. Employees, contractors, and janitors likely merit a more hands-on approach that involves in-person training in proper collection and handling of food waste.
All groups will need signage such as flyers or posters in kitchens, common areas, and near waste collection points that explain the compostables collection process.
Collection bins should be clearly labeled and placed in accessible back-of-house areas—like kitchens, break rooms, or custodial zones—where employees, janitors, or contractors interact with waste most frequently. In some cases, front-of-house bins may be appropriate for customer or tenant use, but these require additional oversight to prevent contamination.
So to sum up, you should plan on…
communicating regularly with stakeholders about composting
budgeting for the printing costs of color flyers and labels
designating permanent, adequate space in your business for bins
dedicating a small amount of employee time to food waste training periodically.
Figure out a diversion reporting system
Part of the fun of composting is tracking how much food waste you’ve diverted from landfills and sharing it with your partners. Municipal haulers are not likely to have a method for doing this for you, so you may want to consider a private hauler who offers this capability, or figure out a method for tracking your results yourself.
To measure your diversion yourself, you’ll need either a scale-based system to weigh food waste before collection, or bins equipped with sensors that track fill levels. Sensor-based systems can be paired with specialized software that allows you to manage and analyze all your waste data in one place.
Partner with Moonshot and get prepared today
Moonshot Compost offers a diversion dashboard to subscribers for easy tracking and sharing your composting progress.
We can also help train employees, advise you on signage placement, and craft a customized pickup schedule that fits your operations ... in short, everything you need to comply with a composting mandate!
