In addition to its environmental benefits, composting food waste also has economic and social benefits. Composting can reduce the costs of waste management by diverting food waste from landfills, which reduces the volume of waste that needs to be transported and disposed of. Composting can also create jobs in the waste management industry and contribute to local economic development.

Composting can also build community resilience and social connections. Community composting initiatives, such as Compost Queen in Fort Collins, provide an opportunity for residents to come together to address local waste management issues and create a valuable resource for the community. Community composting can also provide educational opportunities for residents to learn about composting, waste reduction, and sustainable agriculture. Composting food waste can be done on a small scale in a backyard compost bin or on a larger scale in a commercial composting facility. Backyard composting is a simple and cost-effective way for individuals to reduce their food waste and create a valuable soil amendment for their gardens. Backyard composting requires a compost bin or pile, which can be made from materials such as wood pallets, wire mesh, or plastic bins. The compost bin or pile should be placed in a well-drained area and filled with a mixture of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials, such as food scraps, yard waste, and shredded paper.

Composting food waste requires proper management to ensure that the composting process is effective and safe. Proper management includes monitoring the compost pile’s temperature and moisture content, mixing the compost pile regularly, and avoiding adding restricted materials, such as meat, dairy, and oil products. Composting requires patience, as the process can take several months to a year to complete.
Compost Queen is the recipient of the United States Composting Council’s Small Compost Manufacturer of the Year for 2022 and is owned by Jamie Blanchard-Poling, Certified Compost Operations Manager. Compost Queen provides commercial and residential composting services in Larimer County with a specialty in residential curbisde composting. Their Microsite Urban Community Composting (MUCC) model uses a network of urban farm locations to compost food scraps from nearby residences in addition to the farm byproducts. This decentralized network of composting allows for hyper-local carbon recycling and closes the nutrient cycle from tables to farms in Fort Collins, Timnath, Wellington and Laporte, Colorado.