Growing the Composting Movement
When BPI launched its Composting Microgrants Program in 2024, the goal was simple but ambitious: support composters doing the hard work of expanding access to composting and growing acceptance of BPI-Certified products.
The response was overwhelming. Seventy-seven applications came in from across North America, with more than $300,000 in total funding requested. What began as a $35,000 initiative grew to over $47,000 awarded, supporting 12 composters who are turning creative ideas into real-world impact.
These projects show what happens when small investments meet big community energy. From signage and screening equipment to wrapped vans and education campaigns, each recipient is helping more people understand, trust, and participate in composting systems that include certified compostable products.
For many recipients, the grant helped make composting more visible—and approachable—in their communities.
In Memphis, Tennessee, Compost Fairy used their grant to create colorful banners, magnets, and signage that make composting guidance easy to find and understand. “The newly designed Acceptable Items Guide goes everywhere we go around town—and online,” the team shared. “It eases communication around composting at all times.”
Visibility took another form for Mission Compost in San Antonio, Neighborhood Compost in New Jersey, and New Terra servicing Tennessee/Georgia, who all wrapped their collection vehicles with bold, branded designs. As Neighborhood Compost put it, “Designs on trucks are moving billboards.” The impact was immediate: new customers noticed, routes grew, and local awareness of composting—and BPI Certified products—rose with every trip.
Other recipients focused on improving efficiency and infrastructure to handle more organic material.
In Buffalo, New York, Farmer Pirates Compost installed a new trommel screener that has completely transformed their process. “With the new screener, after the compost goes through just one time, 95% of contamination and other debris has been screened out,” the team reported. The upgrade not only improved compost quality but helped the cooperative prepare to serve thousands more households in Western New York.
In Florida, Renuable took a similar step forward with a new screener. “This grant allowed us to take a huge step forward,” they said. “With the added capacity and new materials, we’re not just serving more people—we’re doing it more efficiently and sustainably.”
Further north, Loving Earth Compost in upstate New York installed a new in-vessel aerated static pile system, enabling them to process more BPI Certified compostables and increase their capacity by tens of thousands of pounds. “This will help us accept more compostables in our community,” the team shared.
Education and communication were another key theme across projects.
On Governors Island in New York City, Earth Matter produced an engaging video PSA (see below) with the help of a local ecological rapper, alongside bright educational posters for compost bins. As their collaborator Nathan said, “This was a really special project because Earth Matter is truly the nucleus of community composting in NYC.”
Go Grow Enviro in Georgia brought composting education into classrooms with new tumblers, tools, and BPI Certified compostable bags. Students learned hands-on—processing more than 2,800 pounds of compost, up from just 770 the year before. “By adding shoe covers and compostable wipes,” the team explained, “we helped remove barriers of reluctance to get involved.”
In St. Louis, New Earth Farm used their grant to install durable metal signage at neighborhood drop-off sites. “These signs lend a level of professionalism to our business and brand,” said Operations Manager John Cline. Community outreach coordinator Melody Newton added that the signs “provide a dual marketing benefit—to New Earth, and to the host sites who get to proudly display their commitment to sustainability.”
And in Colorado, Elements Mountain Compost refined their screening process with new hardware that’s already improving compost quality for local gardeners and farms. In Vermont, Music Mountain Compost completed vital infrastructure upgrades to handle more material year-round, even through the state’s tough winters.
Across all twelve projects, one theme stood out: the composting community is brimming with opportunity, innovation, and dedication. Each recipient used their grant to make composting more visible, efficient, and accessible—helping communities divert more food scraps and certified compostable products from landfills.
For some, that meant a new van wrap or sign. For others, it was an investment in better equipment or storytelling tools. But collectively, it added up to something bigger: a stronger, more connected composting network ready to scale solutions for a more circular future.
BPI is proud to support this growth, funded by our dedicated members’ commitments - the lesson from this first year is clear—when local composters get the right tools, they create ripple effects far beyond their own operations. They educate, they inspire, and they help more people see composting not just as a waste solution, but as a community transformation.
Read more about how BPI is investing in composting infrastructure across the U.S. here.
