Compostable Field Testing Program calls for community composters

Many community composters are asked if they can take compostable products in their systems. Items such as compostable plates, utensils, bags, and take out containers are amongst the most highly requested items to be composted. Most of these items, however, are certified to compost in industrial facilities only and not in “backyard” composting systems. This has led many community composters to ask the question, “Will they break down in my pile?”

CREF received a grant from the 11th Hour Project for the Compostable Field Testing Program (CFTP), part of which includes creating a community composter field testing protocol for compostable products.

The CFTP is a nonprofit project co-founded by BSIbio and CREF in 2016. The CFTP aims to develop and standardize field testing methods for compost facilities of all sizes, support composters in conducting tests, and collect and share the resulting data. The current mesh bag field testing protocol, which CFTP has been using, is best suited for large facilities, in the range of 10,000+ tons/year. This year, the CFTP is looking for community composters who can help revise the protocol to use at community composting sized sites, and then to partner with a few selected community composting sites to test the new protocol later this year.

The CFTP has developed a Community Composter Working Group to revise the protocol and is looking for community composters to participate. The working group will get together to discuss parameters of what community composting is, how to scale down the current protocol to work at much smaller sized sites, and test the new database where all past and future CFTP testing data will reside for public access and knowledge. 

If you are interested in joining the working group, would like to be put on our list of interested sites to field test later this year, or for more information, please email Jamie Blanchard-Poling  at jamiepoling@compostfoundation.org.