I’m pleased to announce to our membership that the US Composting Council has applied for a NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code for “Compost Manufacturing” as a stand-alone code in the current open period for new industry NAICS codes.

The move fulfills a long-discussed goal of USCC, whose compost production and collection members find themselves pigeonholed into codes for fertilizer and other non-industry related activities. A specific stand-alone industry code is expected to help our members when they obtain insurance; when they look for federal and small business bid opportunities; and for members who sell to fellow members who are composters, a specific code for the market of compost product.

Agencies like the Census Bureau and other federal groups use NAICS codes to collect and analyze data on industries and publish statistics on those industries and their impact on the U.S. economy. The data will also help USCC with aggregated data to use in discussions and advocacy with state and federal legislators and regulators, as well as other industries and interested stakeholders who are following the growth of the compost industry.

The application has been filed with the U.S. Census Bureau and is expected to be under review in 2020. Part of the review process will be to provide industry data. We have outlined an Industry Economic Survey that will take place this year if funding can be provided. This is one of the deliverables in the Compost Corporate Leadership Council work plan (see detail here). We are asking for your help in supporting this fund. There are levels for composters, affiliates and brand companies who want to help move the needle on infrastructure, so please consider a donation do this important project.

– Frank Franciosi, Executive Director