From Policy to Practice: Municipal Compost Purchasing Programs in California and Washington

Municipal compost purchasing policies are a powerful tool for closing the loop on organic waste, but how those policies are designed and implemented matters. This webinar will compare compost purchasing programs and requirements in California and Washington, highlighting how different legislative approaches influence local compost use, market development, and circular economy outcomes.

Drawing on real-world examples from StopWaste (Alameda County, CA) and the City of Seattle, speakers will share lessons learned from long-standing compost market development strategies; new legislative requirements for municipal compost procurement and how they are being implemented in their respective regions; and economic incentive programs that support, or perhaps complicate, local compost utilization.

Kelly Schoonmaker from StopWaste will cover

• An overview of SB 1383’s municipal compost purchasing requirements and how AB 2346 provides additional flexibility to local jurisdictions while incentivizing market development
• Alameda County’s experience using local waste data to adjust purchasing targets and increase local compost use
• StopWaste’s landscape inventory tool as a model for assessing realistic local compost market capacity

Kate Kurtz from the City of Seattle - Seattle Public Utilies will cover

• Washington’s Organics Management Laws and Seattle’s approach to complying with the municipal compost procurement requirements
• Washington’s farm compost subsidy program, including lessons learned and strategies for addressing spreading and delivery costs
• The long-standing Soils for Salmon initiative and compost use requirements in western Washington

Pricing: $19 for USCC members, $29 for non-members

This webinar will be recorded and made available to all registrants in a follow-up email.

This webinar is eligible for one Continuing Education Credit for Certified Compost Operations Managers™ and Certified Composting Professionals™. More information on attendance verification will be available in the follow-up email.

For questions regarding this webinar, contact Kelsea Jacobsen: education@compostfoundation.org

Meet Our Guest Speakers

Kelly Schoonmaker

Kelly Schoonmaker is a Senior Program Manager at StopWaste in Alameda County. For the last 15 years, she has led compost and mulch market development at StopWaste—working on everything related to composting and compost use, including on-site composting, education and technical assistance on compost use and compliance with procurement requirements, as well as policy and advocacy. She also serves as the property manager for the agency’s rangeland property, and works closely with the NRCS and Alameda County RCD to implement climate positive management practices, including compost application. Prior to StopWaste, she worked as a landscape architect on public and institutional projects, and happily stays connected to that work by creating model specifications and other tools to help jurisdictions find and use quality compost and mulch. She is a licensed landscape architect with a degree in ecology, a graduate of CREF's Compost Operations Training Course (Class of 2014), and a member of the California Organics Recycling Council executive committee.

Kate Kurtz

Kate Kurtz is the Organics Program Lead for Seattle Public Utilities. Her programs include municipal compost program participation and growing the organics circular economy through policy, research, and education. To complement these efforts, she also manages the City’s sustainable landscaping education programming and the Soils for Salmon program. She serves on the board of directors for both the Compost Research & Education Foundation and the Washington Organic Recycling Council.