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Where You Live
Choose your region or state from the map below or scroll down to find information about regional and state composting programs.
Region 1
Education and outreach are primary concerns of several composting programs in Region 1. Connecticut and New Hampshire provide school composting guides, while Maine and Massachusetts sponsor composting workshops. Food scraps, a compost waste stream, are being studied in pilot programs and projects in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts.
Region 2
To increase solid waste reduction, states in Region 2 are composting. Encompassing sewage sludge (biosolids) from publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs); food residuals recycling from food recovery programs; industrial organic waste from food processing facilities; used paper products; yard waste; or other organic materials, New York's organic waste recycling program recycles nearly two million tons of organic waste (1998). New Jersey’s program focuses primarily on yard waste, and has removed significant amounts of material from the waste stream.
Region 3
Concerned with reducing waste, states in Region 3 have made composting a priority, focusing on yard waste. The vegetative waste management and yard waste composting regulations in Virginia allow composting of leaves, grass, brush and other collected material, but not composting of land-clearing debris. Guidelines have been written for yard waste composting facilities in Pennsylvania, and Delaware and Maryland provide instructions on recycling.
Delaware (Select Recycling Programs, then Composting)
Region 4
Tips from Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee can help municipal, home, and commercial composters. Guidance includes fact sheets on how to compost, technical assistance publications, and rules and regulations. Georgia provides pollution prevention and waste reduction information specifically for the “green industry” (agriculture and horticulture).
Georgia
- Rule revision process and food residuals diversion initiatives
- Compost facility compliance and permitting
South Carolina
Region 5
Yard and tree wastes are banned from landfills in Minnesota, Indiana, and Wisconsin. With the hopes of reducing household waste generated in Region 5, the states provide information primarily for home composters. Many municipalities and businesses in Indiana are also part of the compost market. The Indiana Recycling Grants Program encourages environmental beneficial results through grant opportunities, public recognition awards, broad-based educational programs and technical assistance.
Region 6
To learn more about compost and how to compost, producers and users can visit websites from states in Region 6. Providing step-by-step directions, you can learn: how to start composting, what materials can be composted, if the compost needs to be in a bin, what temperature the compost should be, what needs to be done to the compost to allow the organics to decompose, and how compost can be used. Texas legislation provides incentives for composting to reduce materials landfilled by 15 percent.
Oklahoma: Land Composting Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 142K, about PDF)
Region 7
By diverting organic materials from landfills, states in Region 7 not only reduce waste, but they expand the market for recycled materials and improve soil conditions. Missouri, Kansas and Iowa provide users with detailed instructions for composting, mulching and grasscycling. Each state includes pertinent information about materials that can and cannot be recycled through organics recycling. To encourage the organics market development in Iowa, the state offers a rebate to any non-residential purchaser of compost purchasing compost for the first time through specific programs.
Iowa
Region 8
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming are making strides to reduce the amount of waste that could be composted from entering landfills. Each state provides backyard composting tips to homeowners and others interested in the effort. In 2003, Montana added 3,000 composting systems through the “Backyard Gold” project and diverted nearly 1000 tons of material from landfills, as well as improving Montana soil.
North Dakota: Composting in Your Backyard (PDF) (2 pp, 160K, about PDF)
Region 9
States in Region 9 encourage homeowners, renters, commercial businesses and institutions to reduce the amount of green waste they produce by composting. A survey was conducted in 2000 to provide the California Integrated Waste Management Board with information on the number of producers, feedstock sources, products, and markets for compost and mulch. The Waste Board provides regulatory oversight and marketing assistance to compost and mulch producers.
Hawaii: Reduce and Recycle Green Waste (PDF) (2 pp, 19K, about PDF)
Region 10
Composting facilities in Oregon and Washington are regulated to protect human health and the environment. Large facilities in Oregon, and those handling non-green feedstocks—substances that pose a present or future hazard to human health or the environment; and substances that are high-in, and likely to support, human pathogens—must comply with more human health and envir`onmental protections because of their greater risk. In addition, all facilities must comply with standards for odor minimization.