Research & reports

Jacob Wallace · Waste Dive · United States

NYC's Department of Sanitation began enforcing mandatory curbside organics separation on April 1, 2025, issuing nearly 2,000 summonses in the first week, but Mayor Adams paused broad enforcement through 2025 on April 18, limiting fines to persistent violators. The city had distributed about 190,000 free bins and sold 63,000 more, and organics diversion had risen 65% from FY2022 to FY2024.

Cascadia Consulting Group · Washington State Department of Ecology · United States

A report to the Washington State legislature summarizing an advisory committee's research on standards for managing compostable products at composting facilities. Compostable products make up only 0.4% by weight of material sent to commercial compost facilities in the state, yet the associated contamination disproportionately raises processing costs, and consumer confusion is identified as a major driver of misdisposal.

Cole Rosengren · Waste Dive · United States

California's Little Hoover Commission recommended pausing SB 1383, the state's organics recycling law, citing concern the state will miss its 2025 targets, but CalRecycle, industry and environmental advocates strongly opposed the pause, noting roughly $500 million already invested. 445 of 614 jurisdictions now have residential food-waste collection programs, and waste costs rose 20% for residential and 30% for commercial customers.

Rafael Carvalho Machado, Sieglinde Kindl Da Cunha · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Brazil (Curitiba)

This study investigated Curitiba, Brazil's Urban Agriculture Program (UAP) and its decentralized composting strategy, which aimed to close the agricultural loop within city bounds. Despite training 24 urban farmer communities in composting techniques, the program was unable to achieve this goal. The research, based on secondary data review, interviews, and participatory observation, identified cultural barriers and conflicts among actor roles within the UAP that hindered the adoption of composting practices.

Valerie Chiykowski, Guhan Chendurnathan, Jun S. Lee, Lius Daniel · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · Canada

This project at the University of British Columbia's Student Union Building (SUB) aimed to reduce contamination in post-consumer organics bins using visual prompts. While the intervention successfully decreased both the percentage weight and level of contamination, the overall weight of compostable waste also decreased post-intervention. The study suggests considering confounding factors like a sustainability fair during baseline data collection and improved bins, and proposes an infrared sensor-based audio prompt system for future efforts.

Sarah Legg · Figshare · United States (Wyoming)

ACRES Student Farm, a University of Wyoming organization, has grown significantly over six years, providing local produce, CSA shares, composting, and educational opportunities. However, the farm suffers from continuous losses in efficiency and acquired knowledge due to the transient nature of its student management and workforce, leading to unsustainable internal functioning. This project aims to develop a management plan and handbook to address these issues and improve the farm's operational efficiency.

Michael Raleigh · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States (Buffalo)

The City of Buffalo has made progress in accepting urban farming on vacant land, but remains unwilling to take risks in this area. Policies restrict farmers' access to land, long-term security, food diversity (including animals), and sales. To foster urban farming, the City should amend these policies to grant farmers more freedom and could promote farming through a city-wide composting program and a demolition policy requiring vacant lots to be seeded with clover.

Erin Foster West · · United States (Minneapolis)

This study explores the interaction between community gardens and public agencies in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, United States. It identifies that despite a large number of community gardens in the Twin Cities Metro Area, there is no comprehensive city policy for community gardening, making land acquisition difficult as vacant land becomes scarce. The research inventories public policies related to land use, water, and compost specific to community gardens, highlighting the need for public agencies to provide essential services.