US COMPOST Act: Tipa welcomes federal bill promising composting infrastructure funds
30 Jul 2021 --- Compost organizations across the US are welcoming the introduction of the Cultivating Organic Matter through the Promotion of Sustainable Techniques (COMPOST) Act in the US House of Representatives.
The COMPOST Act would create new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and loan guarantee programs for composting infrastructure projects, including large-scale composting facilities as well as farm, home, or community-based projects.
The US Composting Infrastructure Coalition “applauds” the move, while The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) calls it a “far-reaching” new federal bill.
Representatives Julia Brownley, Chellie Pingree and Ann Kuster introduced the COMPOST Act to the House, and Senator Cory Booker likewise to the US Senate.
The consequences of food waste and loss
Data from the anti-food loss nonprofit ReFED reveals the US allowed 35 percent of its available 229 million tons of food to go unsold or uneaten in 2019.
This translates to US$408 billion spent on growing, processing, transporting, storing, and disposing of food that is never consumed.
The proposed legislation would officially define and designate composting as a conservation practice and activity.
Meanwhile, Feeding America estimates that 45 million people (one in seven), including 15 million children (one in five), may have experienced food insecurity in 2020. The organization predicts 42 million people, including 13 million children, may experience food insecurity in 2021.
The environmental impact of US food loss and waste is likewise concerning: ReFED highlights uneaten food in the US consumes 4 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 14 percent of all freshwater use and 18 percent of all cropland use. Overall, it makes up 24 percent of landfill inputs.
Compostable packaging benefits
Recycling food and other organic matter into compost provides a range of environmental benefits, the Natural Resources Defense Council stresses.
These include improving soil health, reducing GHG emissions, recycling nutrients back into soils, and enhancing water retention.
“A massive investment in composting infrastructure is needed for rural and urban America. Composting can restore depleted soils, protect the climate and create thousands of new jobs,” says Brenda Platt, director of the ILSR Composting for Community Project.
“We won’t see these benefits if we don’t help farmers, entrepreneurs, and local government build needed systems and programs.”
Composting as conservation
While there is growing interest by individuals and businesses across the US to compost food scraps and compostable packaging, there is not enough national composting infrastructure to meet this demand.
Composting is the natural process of recycing organic matter into a fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants.“To date, the management of compost production and on-farm application has not been made a conservation practice by the USDA, so farmers have not been able to receive assistance for this soil health practice through the farm bill’s conservation programs,” comments Eric Deeble, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
However, this bill would add composting as a conservation practice for USDA conservation programs. Both the act of producing compost from organic waste and using compost on a farm would qualify as a conservation practice.
It also would create new USDA grant and loan guarantee programs for composting infrastructure projects, including both large-scale composting facilities as well as farm, home, or community-based projects.
Earlier this week, Tipa urged policymakers to support compostables after outperforming conventional plastics in a fresh produce preservation study. The supplier also found “landslide expert support” for compostable packaging in Europe for increasing the amount of food waste captured for recycling.
By Anni Schleicher
