US’ Outdated Composting Infrastructure Offers Golden Investment Opportunity

As we continue to weather what could be the hottest year on
record,
enacting immediate, available ways to help mitigate climate change is top of
mind for many.

Look no farther than food waste: According to
WWF,
6-8 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if
we stop wasting food. In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food
generates the equivalent of 32.6 million cars’ worth of greenhouse gas
emissions. Project Drawdown’s 2020
Review
cites food-waste reduction as the #1 solution in a list of 80+ solutions for
combating climate change.

Industry has rallied with a growing wave of
tools,
apps,
technologies
and other
initiatives;
and
campaigns,
apps
and
gadgets
are helping consumers waste less food at home; but only 4 percent of the
remaining food waste in the US is diverted to compost sites.

To help increase awareness of and help address this gap, a new report from the
Composting
Consortium — an
industry collaboration to strengthen the composting system in the US, managed by
Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy — outlines
investment recommendations for scale composting infrastructure and increasing
the recovery of food waste.

Developed with investors, policymakers and composters in mind, Unleashing the
Economic and Environmental Potential for Food Waste Composting in the
US
delves into the compost market and opportunities for public and private capital
investment amidst rising landfill costs, federal attention on food
waste
and organics recycling, and state-wide organic-waste
bans.

Food-waste composting is on the cusp of major growth as the economic,
environmental and social consequences of food waste grow more apparent.
Macrotrends include the rising cost of landfilling across the country and
mounting attention linking food waste in landfills to methane emissions
— a major driver of climate change. Corporate and municipal zero-waste and
food-waste policies and climate goals are putting a spotlight on composting —
an age-old, available solution well suited to divert complex post-consumer food
waste with food-contact compostable packaging from landfills, while creating
compost to sequester carbon, support healthy soils and contribute to
agriculture.

While food-waste composting infrastructure has remained stagnant in the US for
the last six years, the composting industry stands at a critical juncture.
Today, there are ~200 compost facilities in the US that process food waste, and
another ~2,700 facilities that only process yard trimmings — but many of the
latter can be retrofitted to accept and process food waste.

Food-waste composting’s potential for social, environmental and economic
benefits is well-established; and many individual food-waste compost
manufacturers have proven the success of the model. However, scaled operations —
particularly, for large-scale food-waste composting facilities — remain hindered
by hyper-local logistics, variable municipal engagement and lack of financing
tailored to the business model’s dynamics. Blended financing is needed to
support large-scale infrastructure that can handle complex food-waste streams
such as post-consumer food scraps with compostable packaging.

According to the Composting Consortium’s report, public and private capital — a
mix of grants and philanthropic funding, patient capital, loans and private
equity — can work alongside each other to build large-scale composting
facilities while nurturing the growth of smaller, established operators. Each
type of capital caters to the needs of a particular region and composting
business and addresses critical bottlenecks across the entire composting value
chain — from establishing efficient collection programs to fostering the
development of next-generation technologies and expanding the demand for
compost.

“Since the inception of the Composting
Consortium,
we identified the need to strengthen US composting infrastructure —
particularly, those solutions that can accept increasingly large and complex
organics streams. Investment, alongside policy and multi-stakeholder
collaboration, is critical to achieving this,” says Kate
Daly, Managing Director and Head of the
Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. “After years of
on-the-ground work and industry collaboration, the Consortium has identified
opportunities for capital to catalyze scale and impact, and advance progress
toward zero-waste and climate-mitigation goals.”

The composting industry presents a compelling opportunity to generate positive
social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. By deploying
well-placed private investments, investors can play a pivotal role in scaling
the industry and creating a lasting positive financial and impact return. By
enacting food-waste diversion mandates, providing financial incentives for
composting infrastructure and collection programs, and supporting research and
development of
technologies,
federal and state governments can play a critical role in enabling the
widespread adoption of composting.

By addressing financing hurdles and fostering a supportive ecosystem through
collaboration between composting businesses, municipalities and investors, the
US composting industry can further scale to advance a more circular economy for
organics, reduce our environmental footprint and build a more sustainable future
for generations to come.