USCC Engages with EPR in Colorado

The US Composting Council participated in a lunch & learn panel as part of the Colorado Producer Responsibility Advisory Board Meeting in Denver on Oct. 11. The role of the board is to advise the Colorado Producer Responsibility Organization through the “needs assessment” process, while preparing to implement the Colorado Extended Producer Responsibility program.  The objective of the meeting was to provide the board with a deeper understanding of compostable products and packaging and how to responsibly incorporate them into the CO EPR program.

The USCC’s Matt Ball joined the panel, which included representation from compostable product certifiers (BPI and CMA), producers (Eco-Products and Amy’s Kitchen) and generator (Denver International Airport). Each presented from their own perspective on the importance of the inclusion of organics in the CO EPR Program, as well as any concerns and best practices that may be recommended when working to successfully address the end life of compostable products. 

With this opportunity, the USCC hoped to convey the value of compostable products from a compost manufacturing perspective, as being a true a driver for food scrap and other organics, not simply a substitute for single use plastics nor a viable feedstock all on its own.  Best practices such as: third-party certification, field testing, upstream contamination mitigation efforts, and the push to include infrastructure development in EPR funding initiatives were all highlighted in the meeting.

There was also discussion around compost facilities’ reluctance to take on food scraps and with it, compostable products for reasons such as increased contamination and the costs associated with remediation, particularly during a moment when more food scrap is being diverted from landfills and more compostable products are filling the marketplace.   Lastly, it was an opportunity for the USCC and the rest of the panel to promote the newly released USCC/BPI Compostable Product Labeling Legislative Guidelines and speak on the key challenge addressed through this effort which is to ensure that the compostable products that make it to compost manufacturers are easily identifiable and break down in compost facilities.  

The Producer Responsibility Board also toured A1 Organics, where Bob Yost and Clinton Sander provided a tour meant to illustrate the challenges associated with a highly contaminated waste stream.

The USCC, along with its members and aligned industries, have spent years advocating for organics inclusion within extended producer responsibility initiatives, and the Colorado advisory board meeting serves as an example of how states can be proactive in how they address incorporation of organics in similar programs.