EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The intent of this report is to inspire and further work in building a culture of composting. Information from this report has the potential to influence policies, educational programming, and infrastructure improvements, leading to a growing culture of composting in the region. It is the beginning of a road map to help us figure out where we could go. The report documents as accurately as possible the topics discussed by 85 people (79 compost professionals and 16 table facilitators) on May 12, 2023, during a World Café-style discussion. Participants included commercial composters, non-profit professionals, educators, researchers, policy advocates, solid waste agencies, local governments, community composters, restaurants, and food scrap hauling services from Boone, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. Over the course of the day the group explored the challenges, the current state, and the opportunities to improve the composting ecosystem in greater Chicagoland. The day ended with a group vote on the top action items that could realistically be addressed to move the culture of composting forward in greater Chicagoland.
After a full day of listening, discussing, and brainstorming,
• 31% of attendees believed that fostering collaboration between experts to create free and accessible resources was the top EDUCATION action priority. • Attendees were divided between choosing using existing government resources to subsidize composting and creating incentives for compost usage as the top INFRASTUCTURE action priorities with each item receiving 28% of the total votes. • 33% of attendees believed a new state law requiring all businesses that produce more than X lbs. of waste/yr. to use a composting service should be the top POLICY action priority. Within the composting ecosystem, a feedback loop exists between education, infrastructure, and policy. As we work individually to address each component the synergy between our efforts will strengthen the entire system.
As residents become more educated, they will advocate for new policies, which in turn will build and support infrastructure capacity. As infrastructure capacity increases, supply will increase while (ideally) simultaneous increases in education levels will increase demand for compost. As the system develops, methane gas emissions from landfills will decrease which in turn contributes to mitigating climate change. Summitt attendees will receive a draft report in September 2023. They will also receive a brief survey asking what action items they have been working on since the summit, and if the report accurately represents what they heard and experienced in May. If for them, it is not an accurate representation, they will be asked to give feedback on what content or themes are missing. A second survey will be sent one year after the Summit (in May 2024). This report will be updated after each survey.
Education, Infrastructure and Policy work together to build a culture of composting.
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