Introduction

Born out of the vision to create a medium-scale, on-farm composting facility in GA, to rebuild soil health and create an educational center, we started our 5-acre turned windrow facility in 2017 in Douglas County on a 70-acre fruit farm owned by King of Pops. This facility has supported the growth of our collection business in Atlanta and processes 6,000 tons of organic waste annually.

With limited options for commercial composting in GA, this facility has been critical in the effort to keep food scraps out of landfills and building healthy soils. It has also served as an example and model facility for the EPD composting rule change in 2017 that supported small to medium-scale community composting in GA. Countless facility tours have been conducted for schools, universities, organizations of all sizes, elected officials, extension agents, and farmers.

Vision

The vision for this facility is for it to be an exceptional example of a small to medium-sized on-farm compost operation and is permitted as such by the EPD as a Class II Permit By Rule Composting Operation. From day one, we have operated with certified and trained management and include the community in learning about the process of composting and the importance of it for soil and environmental health.

Closing the Loop

The compost manufactured at this facility is delivered to CompostNow’s Garden Partners in Metro Atlanta. These Garden Partners are local farms and gardens that are a part of CompostNow’s Garden Partner Program and receive the earned compost shared by home and business service members at no cost to the growers.

It's a remarkable process to see what many think of as “garbage” turn into nutrient-rich compost in a matter of months. Closing the food system loop is our mission, and our facility allows us to share a high-quality finished compost with farms and gardens to enrich soils.

Facility Advocacy, Permitting & Education

In addition to creating and delivering high quality compost to local growers in need, CompostNow’s Georgia Compost Facility has created permitting and zoning models for compost facilities in the state and has increased access for small and medium-scale facilities to open in Georgia.

Prior to CompostNow opening the Georgia Compost Facility, it was near impossible to get a small or medium-scale facility permitted in Georgia. At the time, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Department required that for a compost facility to receive a Permit By Rule, any feedstocks hauled in from off-site the facility had to be in proportion to feedstocks created on-site. This all but limited compost facilities to large-scale food and feedstock producers and precluded haulers from being able to open facilities.

To fix this, CompostNow, along with various other public and private stakeholders including the Georgia Recycling Coalition, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Food Well Alliance, EPA Region 4, Georgia Tech University, and others formed a commission aimed at amending the Permit By Rule language so that facility permitting was based on tonnage limit. This made it so that new small-scale facilities could open without being restricted by the economic barrier of generating feedstocks on site. Once changed, CompostNow’s facility became one of the first compost facilities in the state of Georgia to receive a Georgia Environmental Protection Division Permit By Rule under this new language.

As well as championing accessible facility permitting, CompostNow advocated for compost facility zoning in Douglas County and successfully rezoned the Georgia Compost Facility from Residential Agriculture to Agriculture. This was a massive victory for compost facilities and composting infrastructure in Douglas County and Metro Atlanta to allow for composting facilities to be an approved use under the more-protected agriculture umbrella, as opposed to heavy industrial.

Awards & Recognition

CompostNow's Georgia Compost Facility has been used as a model by both the Georgia EPD and the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

In 2023, CompostNow worked with Georgia stakeholders on the Petitioning Committee to begin a US Composting Council Chapter in Georgia and in October the chapter application was officially approved and established.  In 2023, CompostNow was recognized as the US Composting Council’s Compost Manufacturer of the Year for small-scale facilities (less than 10,000 tons per year) for this facility – a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team.

CompostNow frequently hosts tours at this facility for elected officials, school groups, local organizations, and businesses to highlight the achievements and the history of the facility and the policy work that was done to make it possible. A main goal of these tours is also to continue to educate on the current composting infrastructure in Georgia and the work that still needs to be done to continue progress the industry.
We invite you to reach out with questions regarding our Georgia Compost Facility.
Contact our team