Q&A with A1 Organics Regarding Shift in Operations

During a recent Q&A session with Clinton Sander, Marketing Manager at A1 Organics in Colorado, he explained that their recent decision to limit the acceptance of inbound materials is aimed at reducing contamination. A1 Organics' full press release can be found here. See USCC's interview with A1 Organics below...

Tell us what’s going to happen at A1 Organics on April 1 that was just announced.

Starting on April 1, A1 will only allow food scraps, yard/plant trimmings, and use of a three-gallon or smaller Compost Manufacturing Alliance-approved compostable bag in the residential and commercial source-separated organics (SSO) streams. Contamination is the number one challenge our industry faces, as we continue to work on solutions as a community. Simplifying what we accept supports our goal to keep food scraps and yard and plant trimmings out of the landfill. It is more important than ever to reduce harmful methane emissions while creating a marketable compost. 
 
This isn’t a sudden move, correct? We know you’ve been working on this issue for some time. 

It is anything but a sudden move. It can go back to the USCC conference five years ago when I was asked to present on "contamination, solvable or not” related to the contamination challenge in SSO composting. The answer was yes, it was solvable, but it would require a paradigm shift. That has not happened; the industry (A1 included) has basically kept doing the same thing and expecting different results and the problem has grown.  A1 has been working with all our stakeholders on defining the paradigm shift we are implementing. Composting of SSO is NOT a single stream recycling process. SSO needs to be reworded. It should be OSS: Organics Separated at the SOURCE. That is the shift; we are resetting our site by committing to addressing that shift so that compostable products, current and future, can be separated at the source, treated properly and not landfilled as they are now.  
 
Is this a "one and done?" A memo to customers and that’s it? Or is there a bigger strategy behind this reset?

It is not a one and done.  Our plans are to reset our site physically and move the volume of compost with small debris in it. But more importantly we must change the paradigm narrative so that we can manage compostables separately, effectively, and create a closed loop system that supports and benefits all stakeholders. 

Why is this important for the industry in Colorado, and perhaps beyond, right now?

Colorado has ramped up the narrative on organics diversion based on development of a Statewide Organics Management Plan. More infrastructure is needed. Curbside programs expanding and new ones are coming on. The contamination problem is increasing along with confusion in the market. This shift to address the intent of the SSO narrative to what it should be—OSS with emphasis on source separation—is needed here and frankly throughout the industry. There is a difference between "can’t and won’t.” Colorado has an incredible community and this can be done.