Composters and Haulers Form Coalition to Defend USDA Organic Review

Nine waste and composting organizations have formed a new coalition to block proposals that would let synthetic compostable packaging and foodservice products enter compost used in organic agriculture without the substance-by-sub substance review required under the USDA's National Organic Program.

The group, Safer Soils for All, launched with founding members that span some of the largest names in U.S. waste and recycling: the California Compost Coalition, Napa Recycling and Waste Services, Recology, Republic Services, the Resource Recovery Coalition of California, the Rural County Representatives of California, StopWaste, Waste Connections, and WM.

That lineup matters. It puts the country's biggest haulers and compost operators — companies that process the material stream at industrial scale — on the same side of a federal rulemaking fight over what counts as an acceptable feedstock for certified organic compost.

What's at stake for the compost stream?

The coalition formed in response to proposals that could allow certain synthetic compostable products into organic compost while bypassing the traditional National List review process run by USDA's National Organic Program. Safer Soils for All wants that review preserved, feedstock by feedstock.

"Organic and conventional farmers alike need confidence in the compost they put on their land," said Neil Edgar of the California Compost Coalition, which represents compost operators throughout California. "Maintaining a rigorous review process helps ensure that new materials are evaluated carefully before they're approved for use in organic compost."

The coalition frames this as a contamination-control issue, not an anti-composting position. Members support composting as a core tool for diverting organics from landfills, improving soil health and returning nutrients to farmland. Their argument is that scaling the sector shouldn't come at the expense of contamination controls — unwanted plastics raise processing costs, compromise finished product and erode farmer confidence in what they spread on their fields.

In short: the coalition backs the organics diversion buildout, but wants the input list policed.

Why certifiers and operators disagree

The technical dispute centers on what compostability certifications actually prove. Julia Mangin of Recology, which operates commercial composting facilities on the West Coast, laid out the operator's view:

"Third-party compostability certifications are based on controlled laboratory standards, which don't necessarily reflect the conditions in real-world composting systems," Mangin said. "When these products leave behind fragments or residue, they add to the contamination challenges composters already work to manage and can undermine our efforts to produce clean, high-quality compost for the soils that grow the food and other crops Americans depend on."

That's the gap the coalition is targeting: lab-certified breakdown versus actual disintegration in commercial windrows and piles, where residence times, temperatures and screening practices vary widely.

For composters, fragments that survive processing don't just threaten organic certification — they land in the overs pile, add screening cost and can push finished product out of spec.

What happens next

Safer Soils for All says it will engage USDA, Congress, agricultural stakeholders, and the composting and recycling sectors as federal policymakers weigh the future treatment of compostable packaging and other synthetic materials in organic compost.

The group's ask is specific: keep the existing substance-by-substance National List review process for synthetic compost feedstocks intact, protecting farmers, compost producers and the integrity of the organic standard itself.

With WM, Republic Services, Waste Connections and Recology at the table, the coalition carries real tonnage behind its position — those companies handle a substantial share of the U.S. organics stream.

The decisive milestone is USDA's: whether the National Organic Program keeps every synthetic compost feedstock on the individual-review track, or opens a pathway that lets certified compostable packaging through without it.