CMA has been working with supply chain leaders and North America’s top compost manufacturers to engage in a collaborative and streamlined system of continuous systems improvement in the compostables space. One area of concern for compost manufacturing and hauling industry experts are the product categories that compost manufacturers currently don’t want to migrate into their systems.  These include cleaning related supplies (sponges, wipes), and other non-food items (shampoo bottles, soap labels, pet waste bags). At the same time, some categories are highly desired by compost manufacturers to eliminate high levels of current contamination they continue to get in food scrap streams. Yet, we see no movement in these categories in developing compostable alternatives.

Compostability as a packaging product attribute makes sense within the solid waste system when it does one of four things-

1. It increases the diversion of food scraps from landfill to composting (EX: foodservice packaging in dine-in facilities, compostable kitchen bucket liners)
2. It prevents non-compostable items from cross-contaminating recycling and composting streams (EX: hot and cold paper lined beverage cups)
3. It solves a contamination issue in the compost piles (EX: Green colored produce bags, labels and produce labels)
4. It is employed as a contamination reduction strategy to address the most prevalent contaminants in the pile (EX: CMA certified produce labels)

Assuming you do home composting or have a curbside collection program in your city, look in your refrigerator or pantry shelf and ask yourself this simple question- what items would you naturally toss into compost once it passed its shelf life IF the container or wrapper was CMA certified compostable? Those items, and packages they are in, could significantly increase food tonnage diversion. Considering that, here is a wish list of the categories, when color marked and CMA certified, that would provide significant value to a compost manufacturer, while alleviating current inbound plastic contamination.

CMA Color Marked Compostable Product Wish List

Produce bags

Salad bags

Plastic lettuce wrapping

Frozen vegetable bags and boxes

Bread bags

Cereal box interior bags

Grocery store take-out bakery and deli bags

Grocery store deli container items (salad tubs, food tubs)

Take out hot chicken containers

Mesh onion bags

Many motivated companies are working to lead the charge in minimizing plastic pollution through compostables, but there is limited movement to develop products with the most value to the compost manufacturer, the community, and the environment.  There is limited dialogue between the supply chain, solid waste specialists, cities, and the compost manufacturers when designing products for a future of increased recycling and less plastic pollution. CMA continues to offer a compost manufacturer’s perspective in this important space, working with “best in class” operations and compost industry experts. We welcome more dialogue within our collaborative network to create mutual value through a shared vision of the compostable space. Together we can pragmatically and effectively create a common vision of what success looks like from both the supply chain and solid waste/recycling systems.

With plastics reduction and proposed EPR legislation burgeoning across the globe, compostables may provide a viable option to brands and manufacturers working to limit their impact on the environment. That naturally leads to considering compostability as an addition to a product line’s attribute portfolio. The sustainability model for taking single-use packaging with food scraps, turning it into chemical-free soil amendments, and then growing more food with it is compelling.  The science is there to show that making and applying compost plays a major role in mitigating climate change by minimizing materials shipped to landfills (where methane generated creates greenhouse gases as much as 32 times more potent than C02 that is naturally respirated when organic material breaks down). When we apply compost to landscapes, farms and gardens, we also sequester carbon in the soil, purify our rivers, streams and lakes, and filter out toxins in our environment.

The CMA team has built a growing space for supply chain leaders and the largest compost manufacturing companies in the U.S. to come together and co-create a future with realistic and pragmatic programs that employ compostables. This synergistic model, now in its fifth year, has influenced the planning, investment, and engagement of some of the largest brand owners and food service packaging suppliers on the globe. We are very proud of that, and we have stayed consistent in our mission from the start. Is it easy? No. Is it disruptive to the status quo? Yes. Is it necessary? Absolutely. There cannot be a legitimate commercial or curbside compostables program without facilities that support it, and that message (which many of us have been sending for almost two decades) is finally showing up within formidable packaging groups and entities. We thank you for that.

As we do what we can to work collaboratively on solutions, CMA continues to see a glaring absence of solid waste experts in high level strategic gatherings and discussions around compostables being held by various associations, non-profits, investors and think tank groups. To be frank, leaving out the end-of-life experts needed to help envision practical efforts around compostables designed for large scale solid waste systems is like building a road with no destination. Without the facilities and their long-term relationships with their ancillary stakeholders (haulers, cities) in place working together to accept and grow compostable programs, the upstream development of compostables has limited downstream potential.  This cannot be addressed just by publishing guides or publications to explain the problem, by pressuring compost facilities to take compostables by writing them letters to tell them they are wrong, or by working on legislative efforts without their input to force them into it. The solution comes from building relationships over time, with mutual respect between both sides of the supply chain and solid waste systems.  We must listen, learn, and envision a future together, not independent of each other. When we connect the deep relationships and experiences on both sides of the interdependent supply chain and solid waste system, we create a road we both own and build. Those relationships take time, and CMA can and does deliver the full spectrum and depth of the solid waste relationships needed to make co-creating compostables and compost a reality in some of the largest cities and markets in the U.S.

We look forward to continuing to enhance our vital program with the support of a growing number of compost facility operators, solid waste experts, and supply chain innovators. In 2022, we will begin hosting and offering strategy sessions and webinars that address (with equal input from both supply chain and solid waste experts) the opportunities and challenges in expanding downstream acceptance of compostables. If you would like to join this effort, please e-mail Diana Lloyd-Jones at diana.lloydjones@composterapproved.com and put in the subject line I AM UP FOR DOWNSTREAM!  We thank all the suppliers, manufacturers, brands, QSRs, major compost facilities, cities, haulers and others that have supported CMA. We appreciate the vision we all share to promote composting, pollution prevention and climate change mitigation, and continue to make that our working platform as we move into 2022.

The Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) partners have pioneered the compost production industry for decades. We are comprised of some of the most accomplished compost industry pioneers and thought leaders, and we continue to work to innovate programs, expand capacity, and develop vertical programs and funding to make composting and compostable products manufacturing collaboratively more economically sustainable.

CMA was formed to address gaps between well-established and necessary lab standards for compostable products and the processing realities of facilities receiving them. Our vision three years ago was to come together to provide a “space” to connect supply chain professionals with large composting operations. We have also challenged the “status quo” by breaking down barriers between two intricately entwined industries that require close, consistent and mutual engagement for collective success, as both industries feel the pressure to compost more, encourage landfill diversion for single use food service packaging, eliminate non-compostables plastics in the solid waste system to clean up recycling and compost streams, and inspire more compost usage across the U.S.

CMA’s program goes beyond the  traditional “one size fits all” process for defining compostables by bridging the compost manufacturing industry with product developers to encourage strategic engagement to “raise all ships” by addressing gaps, encouraging continuous improvement in product design, addressing infrastructure challenges, and creating “business to business” engagement models.  

We are humbled to report that our approach is attracting a growing number of top companies and organizations, both domestically and internationally, that see what we see and want to work toward a more cohesive future together.

In reflecting on the last three years, we are proud to say that we have accomplished many things we had set out to do, while we have also been given unexpected opportunities to explore new areas of research and study well suited to our team and resources.

As we enter our fourth year, we thank the many compost facilities, brands, manufacturing companies, and municipalities that have supported and funded us, entrusting our experience and work to move us all closer to a more refined circular economy model within our industry around compostables and food scrap recovery. Looking ahead, we will work to initiate and continue our efforts in:

• Contamination reduction (reprising our Contaminant of the Month educational posts)
• Compostable packaging field and research testing for product developers
• Studies and projects that provide new information on the impact of compostables in commercial collection programs
• Education on \”what is compostable\” for composters with varying processes

With that, our vision is 2020 on the clarity of our purpose and mission for 2020. We look forward to continuing to listen and engage with compostable product end users and manufacturers, while expanding our plans to tell the story “on the ground” of our compost industry partners and affiliates. Please join our effort to inspire mutually beneficial dialogue and engagement around the compostable products manufacturing industry and large-scale commercial compost producers. If there are topics you would like to see us cover, please write us at info@composterapproved.com, and we welcome your thoughts and ideas on ways we can continue to bridge important information and experience gaps within both industries.

Large sports events, conferences, school campuses, fairs, and other public facing gatherings serving food provide both opportunities and challenges in striving for zero waste. With more venues utilizing compost collection services, it is important to ensure your contractors and food service partners work diligently to eliminate potential upstream contamination in compost.

One common contaminant stressing our composting systems are small condiment packets used for mustard, mayo, relish, soy sauce, hot sauce and the like. These packets are made from plastics and/or foil and are not compostable or recyclable. Their small size and prevalence in compost collection programs make them insidious to see or remove, while trillions of these are produced every year.

To address this, we encourage venues that compost to immediately move away from their usage by switching to reusable pumps and bottles and/or to encourage your suppliers to work upstream on replacing them with versions that meet established compostability standards in both the lab and the field, and we welcome more development of materials and structures that might work as compostable replacements, and are easily distinguishable when mixing recyclables and compostables for collection at public venues.  

These packets also accumulate in our drawers and refrigerators at home and work as Americans are utilizing more take-out meal delivery options. Thus, if you have a growing number of packets in drawers going back to the early nineties, you might want to review this 2016 article by Ernie Smith at Tedium to learn more about their shelf life.

CMA encourages all venues to consider contamination reduction a priority when establishing or improving their procurement and composting practices in the future. Be mindful that making better choices can have a positive impact on the composting industry’s ability to cost-effectively create high quality soil amendments. Composters everywhere THANK YOU for your commitment to keeping compost feedstocks clean and free of plastics.

When food scraps and yard clippings are captured and processed into compost, we create rich soil amendments that filter impurities in the environment, sequester carbon in the soil to fight climate change, and grow healthy, chemical-free gardens and landscapes that filter the air with their broad leaves. These materials stay within the communities where they are generated, and they help stadiums, schools, homeowners, and landscapers turn materials once wasted into beneficial products that greatly improve urban soils.

CMA addresses both the issues and opportunities around compostable products, while highlighting community sustainability models where the unrealized potential for composting, on its own, , can take landfill diversion from less than 50% to over 90% at many generator sites. CMA also addresses  the critical challenge of contaminants in compost streams by working with supply chain leaders working upstream to eliminate contamination in our feedstocks. This is accomplished through CMA’s long term and extensive network of supply chain distribution partners, cities, counties and haulers working to create optimal systems for collection and sorting, large end users working with CMA on composter based acceptance standards, and consumers

A circular economy model requires all vital stakeholders to take part in the common goal and vision of expanding composting opportunities throughout our communities, and we welcome your engagement, guest blogs, and support as we evolve our organization to become an extension of yours. Please connect with us as we forge new roads that break down silos and put us on a healthy plane of interaction and engagement.