Commercial Composting Guide
Each guide works through one question in full: how a method works, how to choose between approaches, or how to buy, fund and deliver a facility. They are written for facility operators, solid waste and wastewater staff, and the engineers who advise them.
- 51 in-depth guides
- 3 stages, from basics to purchase
- Every regulation linked to its source
Start with your role
Composting Guide for Municipalities and Public Works
A step-by-step composting guide for cities, counties and public works departments with a landfill: mandates, airspace, approval, procurement.
Composting Guide for Haulers and Waste Companies
A composting guide for haulers, landfill owners and private processors: SB 1383 duties, contamination, tip fee economics, contracts and growth.
Looking for ranked comparisons or short answers instead? See the composting lists and the FAQs.
Learn the basics
How commercial composting works, what the rules ask for, and how each feedstock behaves.
Food Waste Contamination and Depackaging for Compost Processors
Where plastic and glass in food waste come from, the contaminant limits compost must meet, how depackagers work and what a covered pile can and cannot fix.
How Organics Diversion Extends Landfill Life
How to estimate the landfill airspace and years of life a city gains by composting food and yard waste, with a worked example and the methane case.
Landfill Methane Rules and Organics, What Landfill Owners Need to Know
How federal and state landfill methane rules work, how organic waste drives landfill gas, and where composting fits a landfill owner's methane strategy.
Questions Elected Officials Ask About a Municipal Compost Facility
The 15 questions councils ask about a municipal compost facility, from smell and trucks to cost, rates and compost quality, and what staff should prepare.
SB 1383 Compliance for Cities and Counties
What SB 1383 requires of a California city or county: collection, education, food recovery, enforcement, procurement targets, capacity planning and records.
SB 1383 Requirements for Haulers
What SB 1383 asks of California haulers: jurisdiction approval, container colors, contamination monitoring, where organics may go, records and franchise terms.
Why Haulers and Landfill Owners Are Adding Organics Processing
Why haulers and private landfill owners are building compost capacity: diversion laws, franchise terms, control of processing, product sales and airspace.
Aerated Static Pile Composting, The Complete Guide
How aerated static pile composting works, from pile build, aeration floors and blowers to covers, pathogen rules and how ASP compares with windrows.
Biosolids Composting for Wastewater Utilities
How biosolids composting works under 40 CFR Part 503, covering Class A and B, PFRP time and temperature, vector attraction, bulking agents and outlets.
Compost Facility Odor Management Guide
How compost odors form, how they are measured with olfactometry, what an odor management plan must cover, and how to log and answer neighbor complaints.
Compost Process Control, Oxygen, Temperature, Moisture and C:N
Target ranges for oxygen, temperature, moisture and carbon to nitrogen ratio in composting, how feedback aeration holds them, and what records to keep.
Composting Digestate, A Guide for Anaerobic Digester Operators
How to compost solid digestate from an anaerobic digester, covering moisture, ammonia, bulking, dewatering, pathogen rules, product quality and site layout.
Composting at Landfills, Adding Organics Processing to an Existing Site
Why landfill owners add composting and how to do it, from siting on or beside closed cells to settlement, landfill gas, leachate, stormwater and permits.
How to Start a Commercial Composting Facility
A step-by-step plan for starting a commercial composting facility, from feedstock and market studies through site, technology, permits, funding and startup.
Manure Composting for Dairies and Feedlots
How dairies and feedlots compost manure, covering C:N and bulking, NRCS practice standard 317, nutrient plans, pathogens, weed seeds, bedding and air rules.
Organics Diversion and Food Waste Laws by State
State organics diversion and food waste laws as of October 2026, with who is covered, thresholds, dates and what each law means for composting capacity.
PFAS and Biosolids
Where EPA and the states stand on PFAS in biosolids as of October 2026, why composting does not destroy PFAS, and what it means for each biosolids outlet.
Compare your options
Design, permitting, emission control and operating choices, set side by side with where each one fits and where it does not.
Bidding on Municipal Organics Processing and Franchise Contracts
What city RFPs ask organics processors for, how to prove permitted capacity, how to describe pricing in words, and the pitfalls that sink processing bids.
Community Relations for a Public Compost Facility
How a city or county earns neighbor trust for a compost facility: siting outreach, hearings, complaint response, tours and good neighbor agreements.
Compost Facility Revenue Model and the Break-Even Tonnage Method
How to model compost facility revenue from tip fees, product sales and contracts, find break-even tonnage with a simple formula, and test what moves it most.
Composting vs Landfilling Organics, How to Compare the Cost per Ton
A worksheet method for comparing the full cost per ton of landfilling organics against composting them, including airspace, closure, residuals and revenue.
Expanding Compost Capacity in Phases
How private composters add capacity in steps: pilot, first phase, expansion triggers, modular aeration zones, mobile to fixed systems and permit changes.
Forecasting Organics Tonnage for a Municipal Compost Facility
How cities and counties forecast food and yard waste tonnage, from waste characterization and capture rates to seasonal peaks, ramp-up and a phased design.
Municipal Compost Operating Models (Own, Contract or Partner)
Own and operate, design-build, design-build-operate, contract processing, public-private partnership or regional authority: which model fits a city or county.
Protecting a Compost Permit from Complaints, Inspections and Enforcement
How complaints, inspections and air district nuisance rules turn into violations at compost sites, and the records and fixes that protect a permit.
Regional and Shared Compost Facilities and How Cities Partner
How cities and counties share a compost facility: joint powers authorities, interlocal agreements, host terms, flow control, governance and cost sharing.
Selling Finished Compost, Markets, Channels and Quality
How compost processors sell finished product to farms, landscapers, erosion control, nurseries, public buyers and retail, with testing, specs and storage.
Using the Compost You Make: Municipal Procurement and End Markets
How a city or county uses the compost it makes: parks, roadsides, erosion control, giveaways and sales, SB 1383 procurement credit and quality testing.
Where to Put Organics Processing in a Hauling Network
How haulers choose a landfill, transfer station or standalone site for organics processing, weighing haul distance, permits, buffers, utilities and traffic.
Compost Facility Design Guide for Layout, Pads, Aeration and Water
How to design a compost facility: size it from tonnage with a worked example, then lay out receiving, pads, aeration, water controls, curing and storage.
Compost Facility Lifecycle Cost and What Drives It Over 15 Years
The capital, operating and replacement cost drivers of a compost facility over 15 years, compared by technology, with a method for a fair comparison.
Compost Facility Permitting Guide for Solid Waste, Air and Water
How compost facility permits work: solid waste, air and water approvals, with California as the worked example, plus Washington and Oregon rules.
Compost Facility Staffing and Operator Training Guide
Roles, daily tasks, safety training and operator certifications for a commercial compost facility, plus a training plan for a new site from hiring to year 1.
Composting in Wet, Cold and Arid Climates
How rain, freezing weather and dry heat change compost facility design and daily operation, with design checks, a comparison table and four project examples.
Converting a Windrow Site to Covered ASP
What changes when a turned windrow compost site converts to covered aerated static piles: footprint, pads, equipment, labor, water, permits and phasing.
Covers vs Biofilters vs Enclosed Buildings for Compost Emission Control
Compare membrane covers, negative aeration with a biofilter, and enclosed buildings for compost emission control: mechanism, footprint, energy and upkeep.
How to Run a Composting Pilot
A step-by-step plan for a composting pilot, covering what to test, how long to run it, the data a board, permit or grant needs, and how to scale the results.
Positive vs Negative Aeration in ASP Composting
An engineer's comparison of positive and negative aeration in ASP composting, covering airflow, condensate, biofilters, energy, corrosion and control.
Solar-Powered and Off-Grid Composting
When solar and battery power make sense for an aerated compost site, how to size the electrical load, and how off-grid compares with the grid and generators.
Plan your purchase
Choosing a system, writing the RFP, funding the project and knowing what delivery looks like.
Building the Business Case for an Organics Processing Line
How a hauler or processor builds an investment memo for an organics line: feedstock, contracts, technology, permits, capital model, risks and decision gates.
How to Get Council or Board Approval for a Compost Facility
A staff playbook for council or board approval of a compost facility: approval stages, staff report, decision memo, data to bring and answers to objections.
Municipal Procurement Routes for a Composting System
Sealed bid, RFP, two-step RFQ and RFP, design-build, sole source and cooperative purchasing: how a city buys a composting system, including federal-funds rules.
Organics Processing Agreements with Cities and the Terms to Get Right
The terms that make or break a city organics processing agreement: tonnage bands, put-or-pay, contamination, rate adjustment, offtake and change in law.
Composting System Buyer's Guide for Municipalities
A buying guide for cities and counties. Forecast tonnage, test the site, choose who operates, pilot, procure and take a composting system to the board.
Composting System Buyer's Guide for Private Composters and Haulers
How private composters and haulers choose a composting system, from feedstock contracts and contamination to throughput per acre, permits and phased growth.
Composting System Buyer's Guide for Wastewater Utilities
How a wastewater utility decides on biosolids composting. Covers outlet risk, the Class A goal, plant footprint, fence-line odor, amendment and distribution.
Composting Technology RFP Guide – What to Specify and How to Evaluate
How to write a composting technology RFP that any vendor can answer, with performance specs, required evidence, scoring criteria and a site visit checklist.
From Contract to Commissioning – How an SG Composting Project Is Delivered
A phase-by-phase account of how a Sustainable Generation composting project runs, with what the owner does and what SG does from first study to startup.
How to Fund a Compost Facility with Grants, Loans and Leasing
How to stack grants, revolving fund loans, bonds, fee-backed finance and leasing to fund a compost facility, with program status as of October 2026.
Lease vs Buy Composting Equipment
When leasing composting equipment fits and when buying does, what public agencies must check, and the questions to ask before you sign any lease agreement.
SG BUNKER® vs SG HEAP® vs SG MOBILE® – Which System Fits Your Site
Compare the three Sustainable Generation covered ASP layouts by tonnage, site, permanence and timeline, and see where none of them is the right choice.
Not sure where your project sits?
The SG team will take the call, whether you are planning a new facility or fixing one that is already running.