Growing the Market for Finished Compost: Why End-Market Demand Matters

Across the country, communities are expanding food scrap collection, investing in organics recycling, and embracing soil health initiatives. Yet, as these programs grow, one challenge consistently rises to the surface: what happens to all the finished compost?

There's room for everyone to play a role in driving end-market demand for finished compost.

Composting delivers climate and soil health benefits when there is a strong, reliable market for the material produced. Without robust end market demand for finished compost, composting facilities struggle to scale, and the valuable organic matter risks being under utilized.

That’s why more organizations are turning their attention not just to composting itself, but to the systems that help compost succeed. Building demand for finished compost is essential to ensuring that organic materials can complete the cycle by returning to soils where they regenerate ecosystems, store carbon, and strengthen climate resilience.

Growing the end market demand of finished compost is key to unlocking the full environmental and economic potential of composting.

Why support compost?

Composting is nature’s way of recycling organic materials into a nutrient rich soil amendment, and it’s one tool communities have for reducing climate pollution and improving soil health. Some benefits of composting include:

• Cuts methane emissions. When food and other organic materials break down in landfills, they decompose without oxygen and generate methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting helps keep these materials out of landfills, thereby preventing these methane emissions.
• Builds healthier soils. Compost improves soil structure, increases organic matter, boosts water retention, and supports microbial life. These benefits help landscapes stay resilient in the face of drought, erosion, and extreme weather.
• Reduces reliance on synthetic fertilizers. Compost provides a slow release of nutrients and naturally improves soil fertility, reducing the need for energy intensive fertilizers that can run off and pollute waterways.
• Supports regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture prioritizes rebuilding healthy soils and ecosystems. Compost applications help farmers improve yields, increase soil carbon, and strengthen long-term soil health.

Composting goes beyond waste management; it plays a meaningful role in improving soil health and addressing climate change.

Why End-Market Demand Matters

Even the best composting programs can’t thrive without strong markets for the finished product. Here’s why end-market demand is essential:

• Economic viability for composters: Composters rely on the revenue from finished compost to grow profits and offset the costs of processing food scraps. When demand is weak or inconsistent, facilities struggle to invest in equipment, expand capacity, or accept more organic material.
• Greater diversion of food waste from landfills: As cities roll out curbside food‑scrap collection, the volume of organic material entering composting systems increases. Without matching demand for finished compost, facilities can become overwhelmed, limiting the amount of food they can accept.
• Higher quality soil and healthier landscapes: Strong markets ensure compost is used where it has the greatest impact: farms, parks, gardens, green infrastructure, and degraded soils. This creates a positive feedback loop: better soils, healthier landscapes, and more climate resilient communities.
• A stronger circular bioeconomy: When compost is valued and widely used, organic materials stay in circulation instead of becoming waste. This supports local jobs, reduces landfill dependence, and strengthens regional soil health initiatives.

End market demand is the engine that makes the composting system work.

Investing in the Demand Side of Composting

What does supporting end market demand look like in practice?

One example is a recent donation by Eco-Products to Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit that supports regenerative agriculture by helping farmers apply compost to land, alongside other soil building practices. Rather than focusing solely on waste diversion, this kind of investment strengthens the demand side of the composting ecosystem, ensuring that the compost we produce actually goes back into the ground where it can restore soils, increase carbon storage, and support climate smart farming.

We are proud of this partnership and excited to support projects that connect finished compost with meaningful land applications. At its core, this work is about closing the loop and ensuring compost fulfills its potential by returning nutrients and carbon back to the soil. We look forward to continuing to support projects that advance compost applications on farms and sharing updates on the impactful projects made possible through donations like ours.

Who Can Help Drive End-Market Demand for Finished Compost?

The good news is that building end-market demand is not limited to large institutions. There’s room for everyone to play a role!

Homeowners & Gardeners

• Use compost in gardens, lawns, and landscaping projects.
• Choose compost amended soils when planting trees or improving soil health.

Municipalities & Public Works

• Adopt compost procurement policies for parks, roadside plantings, and stormwater projects.
• Require compost amended soils in new developments or public landscaping.

Businesses & Developers

• Specify compost in landscaping, erosion control, and green infrastructure projects.
• Support local composters through purchasing agreements or procurement standards.

Farmers & Ranchers

• Apply compost to improve soil health, increase water retention, and reduce synthetic fertilizer needs.
• Participate in soil health programs that support compost applications.

Policy Makers

• Create or strengthen compost procurement requirements.
• Fund compost application incentives for agriculture and land restoration.
• Integrate compost into climate resilience, soil health, and waste reduction policies.

It’s up to us! All of us. Every purchase, policy, and project that uses compost helps build the demand needed to support a thriving, circular organics system.

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Resources we used to write this article

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Landfill Methane Basics: Clear explanation of how food and other organic materials generate methane in landfills and why reducing these emissions matters for climate goals.

EPA – Food Waste and Materials Management Facts & Figures: Data on food waste as the largest material in U.S. landfills and its climate implications.

Closed Loop Partners – Composting Consortium Reports Research on compost infrastructure, market barriers, and opportunities to expand end market demand.

Closed Loop Partners – Policy Brief: Expand Compost Markets and Build Healthier Soils: A concise overview of policy tools that strengthen compost markets and support soil health outcomes.

Zero Food Waste Coalition – Developing End Markets for Compost: Guidance for policymakers and communities on building strong, reliable markets for finished compost.

Zero Foodprint – Regenerative Agriculture Programs: Information on how compost applications support soil health, carbon sequestration, and climate smart farming.