A business case for an organics processing line answers four questions in order: whose tons will arrive and under what contract, which site and permit can process them, which technology does that reliably inside your constraints, and whether margin per ton covers the fixed cost with room to spare. Write it as a short investment memo with named variables in place of guesses, and approve the money in stages, each released only when the evidence for the next one is in hand.<\/p>\n
Investment committees and lenders ask the same things of any processing project. Use this outline, one section each:<\/p>\n
Describe supply by material class (food scraps, mixed food and yard, yard trimmings, wood, biosolids, manure, digestate) because each carries a different tip fee, process recipe and permit tier. For each class give the sources, the tons available, the share you expect to capture, the season, and the alternative outlets those tons have today. The state laws guide<\/a> summarizes where diversion rules create supply, and the guide on why haulers are adding organics processing<\/a> covers the strategic reasons.<\/p>\n A vertically integrated hauler has an extra line: tons it collects today and pays someone else to process. Bringing those in house replaces a cost with a margin and secures an outlet for collection contracts, but only if the processing line can take the tons on day one of the contract.<\/p>\n Small operators show the same logic at a different scale. SG’s profile of Happy Trash Can in Bozeman, Montana describes a company that ran its own food waste collection service, processed the material and sold the product locally, and moved from static piles turned with a skid steer to an SG MOBILE\u00ae System with GORE\u00ae Cover as volume grew and space and processing time became the limit (profile<\/a>).<\/p>\n Contracts carry the case. Show minimum and maximum tons, term, renewal, rate adjustment, contamination limits and termination rights for each. Our guide to organics processing agreements with cities<\/a> explains those terms.<\/p>\n California adds a reason cities want written commitments. Under SB 1383 capacity planning, each jurisdiction identifies existing organic waste recycling capacity that is verifiably available to it and counties report the results to CalRecycle; capacity counts only when it is demonstrated by a contract, a franchise agreement or other documentation. CalRecycle states that a facility permit is not an indication of capacity available. As of October 2026, the next county report is due August 1, 2029, covering 2030 through 2039 (CalRecycle capacity planning<\/a>). Check the current text before relying on it.<\/p>\n Pick the method that meets the constraint that binds hardest at your site, then compare survivors on lifecycle cost.<\/p>\nContracts and verifiable capacity<\/h2>\n
Technology choice<\/h2>\n