Composting Guide for Municipalities and Public Works
This path is for cities and counties that own a landfill, departments of public works, and regional solid waste authorities. It follows the order a public project usually moves in: understand the mandate and what organics cost the landfill, compare how to own and run a facility, then win approval and buy a system the right way.
Not your role? See the Composting Guide for Haulers and Waste Companies or all guides.
Learn the basics
The mandate, what organics cost your landfill, and the questions your council will ask.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Compare your options
How to own, run, size and pay for a facility, and how to keep neighbors on side.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Plan your purchase
Winning approval, buying the system lawfully and delivering the project.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Landfill airspace calculator
Estimate the airspace your landfill keeps each year when organics go to a compost facility instead. Enter your own figures: in-place density comes from your annual topographic survey, and the example values are placeholders, not typical values.
Request a site assessment for your landfill
Send the SG team your organics tonnage, your site and your deadlines and they will come back with a system recommendation.