Compost Crew doubles food waste diverted in 2022

Compost Crew Inc., the largest food scrap recycling company in the Mid-Atlantic, has had another record year of growth. The company more than doubled the amount of food waste collected in 2021 to over 15 million pounds.

The state of Maryland’s new law requiring large food waste generators to divert their food scraps has helped to drive over 50% growth in the number of commercial customers serviced, including apartment buildings, hotels, hospitals, grocery stores and schools. New commercial customers last year include Whole Foods Market, Hungry Harvest and the Maryland Zoo. Compost Crew also experienced significant growth with existing customers like MedStar Health and the George Washington University.

Compost Crew also partnered with area municipalities to either launch or expand composting for their residents. After offering residents a food scrap drop-off location for several years, the City of College Park started a curbside collection pilot in late 2022.

“Compost Crew made it easy for the City of College Park to launch a curbside food scrap collection program which now provides convenient weekly service to over 220 homes,” said Robert L. Marsili Jr., College Park’s Director of Public Works.  “We have been pleased to see this partnership increase the amount of food waste that is being diverted from the landfill.”

The company codified its commitment to the local environment by becoming a public benefit corporation at the beginning of last year.  Compost Crew hired a director of community relations and ramped up its education efforts throughout the DMV. The team participated in over 60 community events and farmer’s markets, educating a wide range of audiences about the benefits of composting food scraps.    The company also donated thousands of dollars of free services to area schools and non-profits.

Compost Crew worked in partnership with local farms, opening two new Compost Outposts® in collaboration with Butler’s Orchard and ECO City Farms. These modular food scrap composting sites are built rapidly, and aim to promote distributed composting around the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.  The Outpost at ECO City Farms is the first to operate with a renewable energy source, solar panels. The company’s original Outpost at One Acre Farm in Dickerson, Md. was featured during an episode of Maryland Farm & Harvest, a Maryland Public Television series.

Compost Crew has also added a new drop-off location in Brentwood, Md. in partnership with miXt Food Hall. This brings the total number of subscription drop-off locations to three.

To keep pace with the significant growth at the company, Compost Crew continued building its fleet of collection vehicles and hired two people in key leadership roles.  Marcia Guzy, the new director of human relations, has 25 years of human relations experience at companies like IMCORP and Community Health Center Inc..  And Flavio Goncalves became director of operations, bringing over a decade in the waste management industry, most recently as a district manager at Waste Management. Last May, Compost Crew raised an oversubscribed $5.5M Series A investment to support its expansion plans.

Despite the challenges of the current economy, with a tight labor market, high inflation, and supply chain disruptions, Compost Crew continues to gain traction.

“We are committed to helping this region divert even more organic waste to be composted, reducing dependence on landfills and incinerators, and revitalizing our area’s soils.” said Compost Crew CEO Ben Parry.  “We will never compromise on that commitment. The hard work of our employees and the support of our customers are continuing to have a positive impact on the planet!”

About Compost Crew

Compost Crew Inc., A Benefit Corporation is the leading organics recycling company in the DMV. The company provides simple and convenient composting solutions to thousands of businesses, organizations and residential customers throughout Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.