Washington has comprehensive composting regulations that facilitate composting by conditionally exempting several types of composting facilities – including those that process limited amounts of food scraps – from the requirement to obtain a permit. Washington also aims to protect the environment and human health by requiring composters to test for pathogens and adhere to specific performance-based standards.… Read More

Washington has comprehensive composting regulations that facilitate composting by conditionally exempting several types of composting facilities – including those that process limited amounts of food scraps – from the requirement to obtain a permit.  Washington also aims to protect the environment and human health by requiring composters to test for pathogens and adhere to specific performance-based standards.  … Read More

Oregon’s composting regulations aim to facilitate composting while preventing public nuisance issues and any adverse environmental consequences from materials mismanagement. Oregon revised its composting regulations in 2009, as a means to both facilitate greater amounts of composting, as well as ensure new and existing facilities performed at the same level of quality standards.… Read More

California’s regulations are written to encourage the production of high quality compost. Most composting operations are required to apply for a permit; however there are exemptions for some types of operations.  For example, facilities that have less than 500 cubic yards of compost on-site, of which less than 10 percent is food scraps, are exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit.… Read More

California has the largest number of organic farms in the US, and these operations frequently utilize compost products for its myriad benefits. As such, California is careful to both foster in-state production of compost, as well as regulate composting operations based on risk levels associated with facility type. Californian compost operations are categorized in tiers and most are required to apply for a permit; however there are exemptions for some types of operations.… Read More

As of 2018, the state of California reported a 65 percent diversion rate for all materials and more than 140,000 green jobs in its recycling sector. This success is attributable to California’s 1989 Integrated Waste Management Act and the state’s more recent efforts to increase organics recycling through the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), a state agency that coordinates the state’s multiple waste and recycling management programs.… Read More

Seeking to further California’s waste diversion rate and thereby preserve landfill capacity for the future, the state enacted Assembly Bill 1826 on September 28, 2014. Also known as the Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling (MORe) program, the bill requires commercial generators of organic waste to compost or anaerobically digest their food waste, landscape and other green waste, food-soiled paper, and nonhazardous wood waste. The law’s staggered dates of enforcement will allow adjustment time to develop greater capacity in California’s existing organic waste processing infrastructure.… Read More

Seeking to further California’s waste diversion rate and thereby preserve landfill capacity for the future, the state enacted Assembly Bill 1826 on September 28, 2014. Also known as the Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling (MORe) program, the bill requires commercial generators of organic waste to compost or anaerobically digest their food waste, landscape and other green waste, food-soiled paper, and nonhazardous wood waste. The law’s staggered dates of enforcement will allow adjustment time to develop greater capacity in California’s existing organic waste processing infrastructure.… Read More

In 2009, Maine adopted significant changes to its compost facility rules in an effort to advance the practice of composting. The revision of Maine’s composting rules was mandated by Chapter 139 of the 2007 Legislative Resolves, which directed the Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection to collaborate to 1) ease the regulatory burden on agricultural composting operations and 2) revise the volume and types of materials that may be composted without a permit from the state. … Read More