Small-scale community composters expanded in size and scope in 2024 despite challenges to their growth, found the latest survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The 2024 Community Composter
Mini-Census Results, published Tuesday, found that 76% of respondents were scaling up their operations, while just 5.8% reported they were scaling down.
"Community composters are resilient and are finding ways to survive and prevail, but there is massive potential for growth," said Julia Spector, policy and advocacy specialist for ILSR's Composting for Community Initiative.
This is the third year ILSR has released data tied to its survey. It previously published its "2024 Mini-Census" last year; the newest document compares those results to prior years.
The nonprofit organization received 103 responses to the survey this year. New York is the most well represented state in the census, with nearly 30 operations responding, followed by California and Colorado. The organization asked respondents more than two dozen questions covering issues such as revenue, business operations, contamination and opportunities for growth.
Revenue
In 2024, 96.2% of respondents offered collection services, a proportion that has increased all three years ILSR conducted its survey. Spector said that's because collection remains the leading way a community composter can generate revenue, followed by sales of compost and grants, per the survey.
Spector said that's different from larger operations, which often charge tipping fees for their compost facilities.
Community composters’ revenue sources, meanwhile, are diversifying. Income from the sale of compost-related products and from food products grown on site has increased year over year. And the percentage of respondents receiving revenue from federal, state and local contracts more than doubled from 2022 to 2024, including contracts tied to collections.
Spector said it's unclear how much of composters' revenue is dependent on federal contracts, some of which were canceled by the Trump administration last year. But most respondents reported that at least 85% of their revenue was earned income, rather than grants or donations. And the number of operations reporting positive income increased from 57% to 71% year over year, indicating growing financial stability.
Contamination
Community composters are also working to reduce contamination, a problem that plagues operations of all sizes in the industry. A total of 92% of respondents reported a contamination rate below 5%, with more than half of respondents reporting rates below 1%. A strong majority estimated contamination visually.
ILSR also asked respondents to share their contamination reduction strategies. The organization found that the most successful composters conducted targeted education and outreach, took and shared photos of contamination with the source and spent time determining where the contamination was coming from.
Growth
Spector said interest in composting in general is going up, and that's improving tonnages for the industry as a whole. Repeat respondents to the organization’s survey reported processing 17% more organic material year over year, though Spector said that could be more if they had an easier time building facilities and securing collection contracts.
In particular, she noted permitting for composting sites can be expensive and involve "many hoops to jump through." Zoning laws, too, can effectively shut composters out of certain markets, whether intentionally or not. She also noted local governments may default to engaging their contracted waste and recycling hauler for composting services rather than go out to bid, shutting out community composters in the process.
"Given the industry’s overall expansion, the increase for community composters in particular isn’t what it should be, particularly given their cobenefits," Spector said. "We want to see a more equal playing field so all the benefits of a diverse and distributed composting system can be realized."
