History of the STA Program

The Seal of Testing Program was created in 2000 and is the consensus of many of the leading compost research scientists in the United States. There is no other compost testing program available to compost producers or compost buyers that provides this kind of information and confidence to consumers. Products in the program are tested year-round, and program participation is renewed annually to maintain the program participation status. To make the process seamless, the Gateway Portal was introduced in 2020. From the first step of the renewals to the last step of downloading the certificate, the process is automated. The real time website listing allows anyone to check the status of product participation in the program. STA Participants can access their data, STA Certificates on-demand, see the full history of results from Compost Technical Data Sheets (CTDS), download logos, access marketing materials, delegate permissions to other employees, and much more.
 
Chris Seney, Director of Organics Operations at Republic Services, has seven facilities in the STA program that have been using the Gateway Portal since 2020.  He has been very impressed with the simplicity of the Portal and how easy and fast it was to renew their annual certifications.  Republic Services and their customers have benefited greatly by participating in the STA program. It provides their customers clarity, consistency, and confidence when utilizing their products.