Organics & Material Management

Explore recorded webinars and resources covering key topics across Vermont’s organics and materials management system. Learn about the Food Recovery Hierarchy and food rescue initiatives, compost feedstocks, the role of compostable products in organics recycling, and technologies such as depackaging equipment. These materials support informed decision-making and practical solutions for reducing waste and recovering valuable resources.

Many of the individual webinars include downloadable resources and links to more information.

Recorded webinars related to the Vermont Food Recovery Hierarchy & food rescue

Featured
EPA’s Sustainable Management of Food and Organics Recycling Efforts
EPA, Outreach and Education, Policy & Infrastructure, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue
EPA’s Sustainable Management of Food and Organics Recycling Efforts
EPA, Outreach and Education, Policy & Infrastructure, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue

This VORS 2024 session provides an overview of EPA activities related to the sustainable management of food and recycling of organics at the national level, including EPA’s Wasted Food Scale, the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, and research on the environmental impacts of food waste management, the benefits of compost use, and more.

This VORS 2024 session provides an overview of EPA activities related to the sustainable management of food and recycling of organics at the national level, including EPA’s Wasted Food Scale, the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, and research on the environmental impacts of food waste management, the benefits of compost use, and more.

Presenters:

  • Julianna Beecher, EPA

  • Lana Coppolino Suárez, EPA

  • Amy Delorenzo, EPA

Video time stamps:

Resources shared:

EPA, Outreach and Education, Policy & Infrastructure, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue
Organics Diversion Options in Chittenden County
VORS 2021, Compost Systems, Municipal Composting, Food Recovery & Rescue
Organics Diversion Options in Chittenden County
VORS 2021, Compost Systems, Municipal Composting, Food Recovery & Rescue

In this VORS 2021 webinar, CSWD’s Rhonda Mace provides an overview of the food scrap management landscape in Chittenden County. Rhonda shares where to find more information about each option and gives an overview of current licensed food scrap haulers in Chittenden County. CSWD's Michele Morris rounds out the session by moderating Q&A.

In this VORS 2021 webinar, CSWD’s Rhonda Mace provides an overview of the food scrap management landscape in Chittenden County. She touches on the myriad options for how Chittenden County residents and businesses can comply with the food scrap diversion requirements of VT’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148), including: food recovery/waste prevention, onsite management (garbage disposals, grinders, dehydrators, backyard and community-scale composting and digesting), feeding animals, drop-off options, curbside pickup, and - importantly - where those organics may end up depending on the option chosen.

Rhonda shares where to find more information about each option and gives an overview of current licensed food scrap haulers in Chittenden County. CSWD's Michele Morris rounds out the session by moderating Q&A.

Presenters and Video time stamps:

  • Rhonda Mace, starts at 3:35

  • Q&A moderated by Michele Morris, starts at 43:27

VORS 2021, Compost Systems, Municipal Composting, Food Recovery & Rescue
Engaging a New Generation of Organics Managers
VORS 2021, Food Recovery & Rescue
Engaging a New Generation of Organics Managers
VORS 2021, Food Recovery & Rescue

This VORS 2021 webinar explored how a new generation of organics managers are evolving with the Universal Recycling Law through a myriad of projects and experiences. In this panel we’ll hear about solutions and opportunities in this growing industry ranging from pre-school experience-learning to post-college service.

This VORS 2021 webinar explored how a new generation of organics managers are evolving with the Universal Recycling Law through a myriad of projects and experiences. In this panel we’ll hear about solutions and opportunities in this growing industry ranging from pre-school experience-learning to post-college service.

This panel of presenters include teachers, middle school students and ECO AmeriCorps members. Topics include planting for pollinators and healthy soils, food waste reduction and perceptions around composting, as well as how young professionals are engaging in this effort through ECO AmeriCorps positions with Solid Waste Management Entities in Vermont.

Moderator: Elly Ventura

Presenters and Video time stamps:

  • Julia Parker-Dickerson, starts at 5:51

  • Miranda Dalton, starts at 23:24

    • Alaina Jacobson, starts at 26:55

    • Ruby Sausville, starts at 28:38

    • Kiersten Osgood, starts at 29:24

    • Q&A, starts at 30:15

  • ECO AmeriCorps Introduction, starts at 31:00

    • Colin Clarcq, starts at 31:28

    • Lexi Chambers, starts at 38:44

    • Amanda Clement, starts at 42:13

    • Dustin Bowman, ECO AmeriCorps Program Supervisor, starts at 47:53

  • Q&A, starts at 52:47

VORS 2021, Food Recovery & Rescue
Urban Abundance: Neighborhood Composting & Food Rescue
Backyard & Community Composting, Microscopy, Soil Health, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue
Urban Abundance: Neighborhood Composting & Food Rescue
Backyard & Community Composting, Microscopy, Soil Health, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue

This VORS 2024 presentation highlights the successes of grassroots-led food rescue and explores opportunities for decentralized composting within the urban landscape of Burlington, VT. Both efforts were launched to empower residents to engage with neighborhood food systems and to uplift urban food access solutions that are often overlooked.

This VORS 2024 presentation highlights the successes of grassroots-led food rescue and explores opportunities for decentralized composting within the urban landscape of Burlington, VT. Both efforts were launched to empower residents to engage with neighborhood food systems and to uplift urban food access solutions that are often overlooked.

Presenters:

  • Sarah Hobson shares the progress of the Food Not Bombs (FNB) network in collaboration with co-op residences in Burlington, as well as the important role local supermarkets played in reducing food loss and upstream waste.

  • Bo Meisl speaks about the collaborative energy behind a neighborhood composting pilot and outlines scalable opportunities for community composting across urban zoning districts.

  • John Culpepper provides an overview of technologies that support decentralized composting and discusses the value of producing biologically rich compost to improve soil health.

Video time stamps:

Resource shared:

Backyard & Community Composting, Microscopy, Soil Health, VORS 2024, Food Recovery & Rescue

Recorded webinars related to compost feedstocks

Featured
On-Farm Community-Oriented Food Scrap & Agricultural Organic Residuals Management
Compost Feedstocks, Community Initiatives, Compost Systems, On-farm Composting, VORS 2023
On-Farm Community-Oriented Food Scrap & Agricultural Organic Residuals Management
Compost Feedstocks, Community Initiatives, Compost Systems, On-farm Composting, VORS 2023

Learn about CAV's on-farm composting project and hear from two of their farmer partners in this VORS 2023 session.

CAV's on-farm composting project offers participating farms and communities a cost-effective solution for diverting food and organic waste to composting, significantly benefiting farmers and community members. These benefits include diverting food scraps from landfills, producing compost for on-farm use, helping to spark more interest in healthy soils, reducing the use of fertilizers, and - in some cases -  reducing food insecurity.

Additionally, it helps create a more "waste-aware" culture through local management, diversion, and composting of food scraps & other organic materials, increasing the adoption of creative food recovery to benefit communities & build resiliency.

Listen in to hear from some of our partner farmers and learn how to get involved!

Panelists:

  • Athena Lee Bradley, independent consultant

  • Cat Buxton, Grow More, Waste Less

  • Natasha Duarte, Composting Association of Vermont

  • Liz Freierman, Highwater Farm

  • Dan Kilrain, Work Song Farm

  • Ben Tipton, Firefly Farm

Video time stamps:

  • 00:00 Welcome to VORS 2023 from Natasha Duarte

  • 01:53 Introduction to the project, Natasha Duarte

  • 05:28 Partner Farmers share their stories

  • 29:14 On-farm Composting Toolkit

  • 31:26 Q&A

Download the On-farm Community-Oriented Food Scrap Composting slide deck (pdf)

Resources shared:

Compost Feedstocks, Community Initiatives, Compost Systems, On-farm Composting, VORS 2023
Innovative Approaches to Unconventional Compost Feedstocks
Ecosanitation, Compost Feedstocks, Other Composting Systems, VORS 2025
Innovative Approaches to Unconventional Compost Feedstocks
Ecosanitation, Compost Feedstocks, Other Composting Systems, VORS 2025

In this VORS 2025 session, panelists explore methods for composting unconventional feedstocks and share innovative approaches to processing human urine, liquid waste, and other nutrient-rich materials.

In this VORS 2025 session, panelists explore methods for composting unconventional feedstocks and share innovative approaches to processing human urine, liquid waste, and other nutrient-rich materials. Learn how these practices reduce waste, enhance nutrient management, and support soil health. From small-scale demonstration projects to commercial applications, this session will offer actionable insights and inspire new ways to transform waste into valuable compost products. 

Facilitator: Dan Goossen, CSWD

Panelists and Video time stamps:

  • 1:49-21:54 Benson Colella, Wasted PBC

The potential of urine as a sustainable nutrient input for compost

Urine is rich in nutrients like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, yet these nutrients are often lost to the watershed through traditional wastewater treatment.  This presentation will explore how urine collected from specialized toilets can serve as a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers, thus reducing reliance on mining and fossil fuels.  We will discuss the nutrient composition of urine and its regulatory and processing requirements for use as a soil amendment.  We will share preliminary results from an experiment in which commercial-scale leaf litter compost was supplemented with urine.  Those findings will compare nutrient profiles of the urine-supplemented compost to a control and share operational insights into the urine supplementation of compost at-scale. 

  • 21:54-51:11 John Culpepper, Compost for Good

Composting human urine. What? Why?

Compost for Good operates a modest facility, registered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to process diverted human urine through a high temperature composting process. This Human Urine Research and Demonstration facility is open to entrepreneurs, policy makers, farmers, and others. To date we have successfully processed over 2,000 gallons of urine, producing numerous cubic yards of high quality, high value, biologically robust compost. We have also experimented with different recipes, mixing urine, food scraps, spent brewery grain, and other nitrogenous materials using densified wood pellets and wood chips as a carbon source.  In this presentation I will share our successes, and show examples of finished compost images of the various compost recipes under a microscope.

  • 51:11-1:39:10 Jean Bonhotal, Cornell Waste Management Institute

Composting Eggs, Milk, Whey, Manure, Blood, and Other Difficult Liquids from Disaster

Composting liquids can be an important part of the composting process as moisture is essential for dry carbon resources.  Eggs in the billions, dairy residuals, blood, offal, liquid manure, high BOD liquids from flooding are a very difficult task, but it is doable.  We need more than one tool in the toolbox to properly dispose of liquids. Form a bowl or volcano to absorb the liquid before it’s able to hit the ground, creating these depressions in very thick carbon layers is the key. 15,000 gallons of milk waste can be placed into a 100 ft windrow weekly for 6 to 8 weeks. Mix it all together on site and load it into a loader/ truck/ bucket and form windows out of that mixture.  Composting liquids is a win/win option.

Ecosanitation, Compost Feedstocks, Other Composting Systems, VORS 2025

Recorded webinars related to compostable products (as they relate to compost systems)

Featured
Compostables, Disposables, and Durables
Source Separation & Contamination, VORS 2021, Compostable Products
Compostables, Disposables, and Durables
Source Separation & Contamination, VORS 2021, Compostable Products

This VORS 2021 webinar examines the trade-offs of different food packaging and service ware options and highlights strategies that individuals, institutions, and policymakers can use to make informed choices that support both sustainability and everyday needs.

Vermont and its communities have long pursued progressive approaches to solid waste management, aiming to make choices with the least environmental impact. But decisions about which materials to use—whether compostables, single-use disposables, or long-lasting durables—require balancing environmental benefit, functionality, practicality, convenience, and cost.

This VORS 2021 webinar examines these trade-offs and highlights strategies that individuals, institutions, and policymakers can use to make informed choices that support both sustainability and everyday needs.

Presenters and Video time stamps:

  • Dan Goossen starts at 3:22

  • Marissa Watson starts at 25:35

  • Marina McCoy starts at 47:25

  • Q&A starts at 1:10:05

Source Separation & Contamination, VORS 2021, Compostable Products
Compostable Packaging: Love it or Hate It - Let's Talk
Source Separation & Contamination, Compostable Products, VORS 2022
Compostable Packaging: Love it or Hate It - Let's Talk
Source Separation & Contamination, Compostable Products, VORS 2022

Waste diverters, soil enthusiasts, and green-minded citizens all share a desire for waste reduction, clean sorting streams, and healthy soil. While compostable packaging is intended to provide a solution, it can also add uncertainty for the end-user and the composter. Experts from every facet of the compostable packaging subset explored the preconceptions and misconceptions of compostable packaging and cultivated a discussion towards collaborative solutions in this VORS 2022 session.

Waste diverters, soil enthusiasts, and green-minded citizens all share a desire for waste reduction, clean sorting streams, and healthy soil. The sorting process can be confusing. The myriad of materials that we are expected to sort correctly can foster that emotion, making the process unclear, frustrating, and challenging to execute.

While compostable packaging is intended to provide a solution, it can also add uncertainty for the end-user and the composter. Given that the compost packaging market is expected to increase 17% annually between 2020-2027 - what role could compostable serveware play in achieving the goals of stakeholders devoted to a clean sorting stream, reducing and diverting waste, and building healthy soil?

Experts from every facet of the compostable packaging subset unpacked the answer to this question as this VORS 2022 session explored the preconceptions and misconceptions of compostable packaging and cultivated a discussion towards collaborative solutions.

This recording includes the discussions from the three Zoom rooms.

Panelists and Video time stamps:

  • 00:00 VORS Introduction, Natasha Duarte

  • 04:10 Session Introduction, Natasha Duarte, Moderator

  • 16:48 Panelists opening statements:

    • Ham Gillett, GUVSWMD, So. Windsor/Windham Counties SWMD

    • Toby Alves, ECO Products

    • Corey Berman, UVM Recycling & Zero Waste

    • Zach Cavacas, Music Mountain Compost

    • Trevor Mance, Casella Waste Systems, Inc.

    • Elly Ventura, Vegware

  • Zoom Room 1

  • Zoom Room 2

  • Zoom Room 3

  • 1:59:21 Full Group Wrap Up

Shared resources:

Source Separation & Contamination, Compostable Products, VORS 2022
Strategies for Success with Compostable Products: Education, Technology and Training
Compostable Products, VORS 2024
Strategies for Success with Compostable Products: Education, Technology and Training
Compostable Products, VORS 2024

Despite the value compostable products can contribute to keep food scraps out of the landfill and as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics, compostable products are not always readily accepted by composters in the United States. Reasons vary from concerns about contamination, greenwashing, processing operation limitations, and more. This VORS 2024 session covers key strategies for successfully managing compostable products.

Despite the value compostable products can contribute to keep food scraps out of the landfill and as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics, compostable products are not always readily accepted by composters in the United States. Reasons vary from concerns about contamination, greenwashing, processing operation limitations, and more.

This VORS 2024 session covers key strategies for successfully managing compostable products. Presenters share best practices to safeguard against unintended contamination from procurement to piles. This panel includes a composter who successfully manages compostables while using technology as a vital part of the process; a compostable products manufacturer sharing a program to prevent contamination in composting facilities; and an industry professional who has created labeling guidelines to identify products that will work in compost systems. Covering savvy procurement practices to fostering strong alliances with haulers to utilizing labeling and technology, these experienced professionals share their successful strategies for managing compostable products.

Moderator: Elly Ventura, World Centric

Panel presentations:

  • “Research results of compostable packaging piles using remote monitoring devices and digital data” from David Velez Alexander, TAWA Compost Food Rescue, and Sashti Balasundaram, WeRadiate

  • “CIRC: Controls Intended to Reduce Contamination” from Toby Alves, Eco-Products

  • “The need for effective compostable labeling laws” from Linda Norris-Waldt, US Composting Council

Video time stamps:

Resources shared:

Compostable Products, VORS 2024

Recorded webinars related to depackaging

Featured
Decoding the Compost Conundrum: Navigating Contaminants and Crafting Sustainable Solutions
Persistent Herbicides, Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, VORS 2024
Decoding the Compost Conundrum: Navigating Contaminants and Crafting Sustainable Solutions
Persistent Herbicides, Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, VORS 2024

This VORS 2024 panel discussion delves into contaminant concerns in compost, such as persistent herbicides, microplastics, and PFAS. As composting gains momentum with landfill diversion laws, it's crucial to address the potential pitfalls that may compromise its environmental benefits.

This VORS 2024 panel discussion delves into contaminant concerns in compost, such as persistent herbicides, microplastics, and PFAS. As composting gains momentum with landfill diversion laws, it's crucial to address the potential pitfalls that may compromise its environmental benefits.

Our panel of experts discuss the challenges posed by persistent herbicides and offer best practices for those managing materials treated with herbicides; examine the concerns about microplastics from depackaging facilities, and share updates about new technology that has made strides to address these concerns; and consider the threat of PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) in compost, which is increasingly in the "hot seat" due to pressing concerns associated with these persistent chemicals.

This informative session aims to empower participants with the knowledge to make informed decisions about composting practices, promote a more sustainable and contaminant-free approach to organic waste management, and provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of composting and environmental stewardship.

Panel presentations:

  1. “Persistent herbicides, is that still a thing?” from Pam Bryer, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets.

  2. “Solutions for removing microplastics from depackaged food organics” from Kevin Pedretti, Scott Equipment

  3. “PFAS in compost - how does it get there and what can be done” from Caleb Goossen, Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association

Video time stamps:

Resources shared:

Persistent Herbicides, Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, VORS 2024
Food Waste and the Circular Economy – Experience from Denmark
Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, Anaerobic Digestion
Food Waste and the Circular Economy – Experience from Denmark
Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, Anaerobic Digestion

Denmark has a long legacy as an agricultural producer and exporter, with a strong national interest in maintaining healthy soil and clean water. The webinar provides an overview of the multi-faceted policy framework that has been put in place over the last 20 years to allow for continued growth of the agriculture sector with a decreasing environmental footprint.

Denmark has a long legacy as an agricultural producer and exporter, with a strong national interest in maintaining healthy soil and clean water. The capture and use of nutrients in food waste and animal manure is on the rise especially over the last several years with the growth of centralized large-scale anaerobic digester (AD) facilities.

As communities in Denmark look to divert more food waste from incineration, the production of ‘bio-pulp’ for delivery to AD plants for renewable energy and fertilizer production continues to grow. The quality controls and regulations around digestate use on croplands in Denmark has led to development of systems designed to limit contamination. These could serve as a model for the numerous de-packaging systems that have been deployed in the US.

The webinar provides an overview of the multi-faceted policy framework that has been put in place over the last 20 years to allow for continued growth of the agriculture sector with a decreasing environmental footprint.

This webinar was part of CAV’s ICAW 2020 program.

Panelists:

  • Bob Spencer, Windham Solid Waste Management District

  • Claus Mortensen, Agro Business Park

  • Dr. Rasmus Eisted, Circular Economy and Waste Management, Danish Environmental Protection Agency

  • Lars Ravn Nielsen, Gemidan Ecogi A/S

Moderator: Chris Voell, Senior Commercial Advisor at the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, DC, where he was heading the Waste, Recycling & Biogas Advisory.

Video time stamps:

  • 0:00-2:54 Intro to CAV/ICAW

  • 2:54- 8:26 Intro to webinar

  • 8:26-20:18 Bob Spencer

  • 20:18-36:39 Claus Mortensen

  • 36:39-54:57 Dr. Rasmus Eisted

  • 54:57-1:10:53 Lars Nielsen

  • 1:10:53-1:25:08 Q&A

Slide decks from our panelists:

Source Separation & Contamination, Depackaging, Anaerobic Digestion
Partnerships in Composting Technology
Policy & Infrastructure, Depackaging, VORS 2022, Anaerobic Digestion, Compost Business Plans
Partnerships in Composting Technology
Policy & Infrastructure, Depackaging, VORS 2022, Anaerobic Digestion, Compost Business Plans

This VORS 2022 session explored different technologies used for organics management and the partnership opportunities for composters. We started by considering depackaging technology, followed by opportunities for Vermont compost companies to partner with farms to use excess solids from farm digesters.

This VORS 2022 session explored different technologies used for organics management and the partnership opportunities for composters.

We started by considering depackaging technology, the methodology used for determining contamination potential, and explored the "chain of custody" for the depackaged materials - from bin to end-use.

Following this, we heard about the opportunity for Vermont compost companies to partner with farms to use excess or used digested solids from farm digesters and the potential new revenue streams this offers both composter and farmer.

Presenters and Video time stamps:

  • 00:00 VORS introduction, Natasha Duarte

  • 03:09 Corey Rossen, Ecoverse: “Clean Compost After Food Waste Separation & Depackaging”

  • 56:03 Jim Muir, Agricultural Digesters LLC and Brent LeHoullier, Agri-Cycle, “Partnering Vermont Farms and Compost Companies”

Policy & Infrastructure, Depackaging, VORS 2022, Anaerobic Digestion, Compost Business Plans
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