About

 

We've been up to good.

Our mission is to accelerate composting access and infrastructure to improve soil health and divert compostables from landfill.

The Composting Collaborative unites composters, consumer-facing businesses, and policymakers to share best practices and resources, as well as generate innovative solutions to shared challenges.

 
 

Founding Partners

 
 
GreenBlue is an environmental nonprofit dedicated to the sustainable use of materials in society. We bring together a diversity of stakeholders to encourage innovation and best practices to promote the creation of a more sustainable materials economy.

Olga Kachook

Project Manager

Olga Kachook

Project Manager

Olga Kachook is a Project Manager at GreenBlue, where she leads the Essentials of Sustainable Packaging courses and the Composting Collaborative. Her background includes expertise in compostable materials and packaging, zero waste facility certification, life cycle analysis, and sustainable materials management. Prior to joining GreenBlue, she led corporate sustainability and waste initiatives at World Centric, Etsy, Cascade Designs, and Cascadia Consulting. Olga has a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington. She is certified as a LEED Green Associate and a TRUE Zero Waste Advisor.

Published since 1960, BioCycle is the go-to magazine and website on composting, organics recycling, anaerobic digestion and renewable energy. Each monthly issue of BioCycle shows you how to process organic residuals such as yard trimmings, food waste, woody materials, biosolids, manure, high strength organic wastes, municipal solid waste (MSW), and other source separated feedstocks into value-added products.

Nora Goldstein

Editor

Nora Goldstein

Editor

Ms. Nora Goldstein serves as the Editor of BioCycle. Ms. Goldstein was one of the principal architects behind the formation of the ABC and has authored numerous articles on all facets of composting and organics recycling, and anaerobic digestion. She has been Director at American Biogas Council since September 21, 2012. Ms. Goldstein served as co-Chair of the Education and Outreach Committee and Secretary of the Council.
The US Composting Council (USCC) is the only national organization in the United States dedicated to the development, expansion and promotion of the composting industry. The USCC achieves this mission by encouraging, supporting and performing compost related research, promoting best management practices, establishing standards, educating professionals and the public about the benefits of composting and compost utilization, enhancing compost product quality, and developing training materials for composters and markets for compost products.

Cary Oshins

Director of Education and Annual Conference

Cary Oshins

Director of Education and Annual Conference

Frank Franciosi

Executive Director

Frank Franciosi

Executive Director

 
 

The Road So Far

Since the Composting Collaborative’s inception in 2016, the group has convened with more than 100 stakeholders. The Collaborative aims to actively engage with every sector in the composting supply chain. This means sitting down with everyone from food waste generators like groceries, quick-service restaurants, and sports stadiums to compost manufacturers and haulers themselves, as well as compostable packaging manufacturers, as well as city, municipal, and state governments.

Over the course of three meetings in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Baltimore, the Collaborative has charted an exciting course for 2017 and beyond. Immediately assessing need for several projects relating to better data on processing capacity, clarity over pretreatment and preprocessing technologies, and optimized soil sampling methodology, we’ve rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

Since then, the Collaborative’s written articles for BioCycle Magazine on selected topics, given a workshop at the New York City Food Waste Fair, and is on track to produce stellar resources for the community-at-large.