Using the Compost You Make: Municipal Procurement and End Markets

A municipal compost program is only finished when the compost has somewhere to go. Most cities and counties use a mix of outlets: their own parks and landscaping, roadside and erosion control work, free giveaways to residents, and bulk sales to farms and landscapers. In California, SB 1383 adds a reason to plan this carefully, because every jurisdiction must procure recovered organic waste products each year, and compost from a permitted facility counts toward that target.

Key takeaways

Plan the outlet before you size the facility. Unused compost becomes a storage, stormwater and neighbor problem on the pad.
City use, giveaways and sales each fit different programs. Most cities combine them and adjust by season.
In California, the SB 1383 target is 0.08 tons of organic waste per resident per year, and one ton of that target equals 0.58 tons or 1.45 cubic yards of compost.
Procurement does not have to mean purchase. Compost a city makes, receives from a hauler or gives away through an agreement can count if the records are kept.
Buyers and city departments want consistent, tested product. The US Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance program is the common way to show test results.

Why the outlet decides the program

Compost accumulates. A facility that makes more than its outlets absorb fills its curing and storage area, and finished compost left in piles brings its own stormwater runoff, dust and handling cost. A city that has already decided where the product goes can size storage, screening and loadout to match, and can tell its board what happens to the material.

California turned this into a legal requirement. Under 14 CCR section 18993.1, each city and county must procure recovered organic waste products each year, at 0.08 tons of organic waste per California resident. CalRecycle’s procurement page says jurisdictions can use compost and mulch in many applications, such as landscaping in city parks, and that procurement does not necessarily mean the products are purchased. Our guide to SB 1383 compliance for cities and counties covers the rest of the law.

The outlets compared

CalRecycle’s procurement targets page lists the uses it expects: giveaways to the public, community groups and community gardens; agriculture and rangelands, for example through a direct service provider agreement; publicly managed landscaping around buildings, parks and recreation areas; and environmental uses such as erosion control, fire remediation, stormwater management and soil bioremediation, usually through a partner.

Outlet	Fits when	Does not fit when	SB 1383 note
City parks, medians and building landscaping	Parks or public works crews can apply it on a schedule, and you want to show residents their own material in use	Crews lack spreading equipment or time, or demand is small next to output	Counts as procurement with records of amount and use
Roadsides, slopes and erosion control	Public works or a partner has steady construction and slope projects	Projects are sporadic, or specifications call for a product you do not make	Counts; environmental uses often run through a partner
Agriculture and rangeland	Farms are within haul distance and want a consistent supply	Haul distances are long, or demand is seasonal and you cannot store for it	Can count through a direct service provider agreement
Free giveaways to residents	You want visible public benefit and have a safe pickup site	Traffic or liability at the site is a problem, or volume is too large for self-haul	Counts as a jurisdiction use; a community benefits agreement can also make a facility’s giveaways count
Bulk and bagged sales	Product is consistent and tested, and someone owns marketing	Quality varies batch to batch, or no one is assigned to sell	Sold compost is not procured by the city unless the city or its provider uses it
Landfill alternative daily cover	Not recommended as an organics outlet	The material is organic waste	Counts as landfill disposal under SB 1383

Two cautions on the last row. CalRecycle’s disposal FAQ says organic waste used as alternative daily or intermediate cover at a landfill is landfill disposal. The same FAQ counts soil amendment for erosion control, revegetation or slope stabilization as a reduction in disposal only if the material is not later landfilled. A landfill that wants to use compost on closed slopes should confirm with its local enforcement agency how that use is classified.

How SB 1383 procurement credit works

The calculation

Population (from the California Department of Finance) x 0.08 = the annual target in tons of organic waste.
Convert with the regulation’s factors: one ton of target equals 0.58 tons of compost, 1.45 cubic yards of compost, or one ton of mulch.
Subtract any credit from renewable gas, electricity or other eligible products you already procure.

Worked example with assumed inputs. These figures are placeholders for the method, not any city’s data.

Population: P = 60,000 residents (assumed)
Target: 60,000 x 0.08 = 4,800 tons of organic waste
Met entirely with compost: 4,800 x 1.45 = 6,960 cubic yards
Assumed split: parks and landscaping 30 percent, erosion control partner 30 percent, resident giveaway 25 percent, agriculture direct service provider 15 percent
Parks share: 6,960 x 0.30 = 2,088 cubic yards a year to apply, and to document

The last line is the useful one. If the parks department cannot apply that volume, change the split before the year starts, not in December.

What counts and what does not

The regulation sets conditions on each product:

Compost must come from a compostable material handling operation or facility permitted or authorized under state rules, or from an in-vessel digestion facility that composts on site.
Digestate is a distinct material and does not count on its own.
Mulch counts only if the jurisdiction has an ordinance requiring it to meet land application standards for physical contamination, metals and pathogens, and the mulch came from an eligible permitted facility, transfer or processing facility, or landfill.
Direct service providers, such as a hauler, landscape contractor or composter, can procure on the city’s behalf under a written contract, with documentation.

New options as of October 2026

CalRecycle’s AB 2902 and AB 2346 guidance, last updated October 2026, adds:

Compost from certain small operations, vermicomposting and mushroom farm composting can count, if the city first adopts an ordinance requiring land application that meets the limits for existing composting facilities.
Mulch from the city’s own tree trimming, together with recovered edible food, can count for up to 10 percent of the target, with documentation of where the mulch was applied or given away.
Direct spending on community composting, equipment used only to spread compost or mulch, and free compost and mulch distribution sites can together count for up to 10 percent of the target until December 31, 2035.
A five-year target covering 2027 to 2031 is available if the city notifies CalRecycle by January 1, 2027.

The 2022 targets run through December 31, 2026, and the regulation requires CalRecycle to recalculate them every five years, so confirm your 2027 figure on CalRecycle’s pages.

Giveaways or sales: what SG’s municipal projects show

Both routes work, and many programs do both. Two municipal projects in Sustainable Generation’s (SG) material illustrate them.

SG’s profile of the Florence, Oregon wastewater treatment facility says the city composts biosolids, brands the product FloGro, and initially offered it free to residents, with demand exceeding supply. Biosolids compost has its own federal and state rules, but the lesson carries: a named, consistent product given to residents builds public support for the facility.

SG’s article on the Prince George’s County facility describes the other route. The compost, LeafGro Gold, is sold commercially in bulk across the region, revenue from sales goes back to the county to help offset operating cost, and the University of Maryland, one of the facility’s first customers, uses it at the university farm.

Giveaways fit when the goal is public benefit and SB 1383 credit, and when the volume is small enough for residents to self-haul. Sales fit when output is large, product is consistent, and someone is responsible for marketing. If you sell, decide how much product to keep back for city use so procurement records stay complete.

Quality: test it before anyone uses it

City departments, contractors and farms ask the same questions: is it mature, is it stable, what are the nutrients, salts and particle size, and is it free of pathogens and physical contaminants? Mulch credited under SB 1383 also has to meet land application limits for physical contamination, metals and pathogens.

The US Composting Council runs the Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) program, which BioCycle describes as a testing and information disclosure program; participating products can be marketed as STA Certified Compost. Asking for STA results, or equivalent test data, in your own product specification gives city departments and buyers one format to compare. The list of key metrics for compost quality explains what each test result means, and uses of compost in agriculture covers what farm buyers look for.

Consistency comes from the process, not the lab. SG’s article Speed Gets Attention. Consistency Keeps the Facility Running. argues that compost value depends on consistency, that customers, municipalities and public works teams among them, need confidence in maturity, stability, moisture, particle size and handling, and that inconsistent stability can mean more curing, reworked piles and more testing before sale. SG supplies covered aerated static pile systems with the GORE® Cover and the SG COMPOST CONTROL™ System for oxygen and temperature monitoring. SG’s services page lists end product sales and marketing among its facility operations support, alongside operator training through its operator training and support program.

A plan for the first year of product

Confirm your procurement target and decide by January 1, 2027 whether to use a five-year target.
List every city department and partner that could use compost, with the volume each can apply and the season.
Set a product specification and testing schedule, and decide on STA participation.
Adopt any ordinance needed before procurement happens: mulch, small-operation compost, or use through a direct service provider.
Write direct service provider and community benefits agreements with documentation requirements built in.
Set up a giveaway site with traffic control, or a sales agreement, or both.
Record every load: date, quantity, product, destination, use. File it in the Implementation Record.
Review the split each quarter and move volume between outlets before storage fills.

FAQ

Does compost a city gives away count toward its SB 1383 target?

It can. CalRecycle’s procurement targets page lists giveaways to the public, community groups and community gardens as uses, and says a community benefits agreement can establish a composting facility as a direct service provider so its giveaways count. The compost must come from a permitted or authorized facility, and the city must keep records showing the amount and that the product was not credited to another jurisdiction.

Can a city count compost it sells?

CalRecycle credits products procured by the jurisdiction or by a direct service provider on its behalf, so credit follows use, not production. Compost the city sells to a private landscaper is revenue, not procurement, unless an agreement makes that buyer a direct service provider using it on the city’s behalf. Many programs keep part of the output for parks, public works and giveaways so procurement is covered, and sell the rest.

Is mulch easier than compost for meeting the target?

One ton of target equals one ton of mulch, against 0.58 tons of compost, so mulch looks easier by weight. It has conditions, though: an ordinance requiring land application standards, and production at an eligible permitted facility. Mulch from the city’s own tree trimming is a separate option capped, together with recovered edible food, at 10 percent of the target.

What quality testing should a municipal compost program do?

Test for maturity, stability, nutrients, soluble salts, pH, particle size, physical contaminants, metals and pathogens on a regular schedule, and publish results with the product. The US Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance program is one established way to test and disclose results in a standard format. Check your state’s rules and your facility permit for the tests they require.

Where should compost not go?

Avoid using organic waste as alternative daily cover if diversion credit matters: under SB 1383 that use counts as landfill disposal. Be careful with erosion control on landfills too, since CalRecycle counts it as a reduction in disposal only if the material is not later landfilled. Ask your local enforcement agency before planning landfill uses.

Next step

If you are deciding how much capacity to build, a pilot shows how much product your feedstock yields and what quality it reaches. Read about SG’s pilots and demos, or talk through your outlet plan with SG’s consulting team. The municipal track has the related planning guides.

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