When Compost Becomes a Crisis — and an Opportunity
Last week, we hit a mini-crisis at the Atlanta Municipal Market.
Our longtime partner abruptly ended a 10-year arrangement to recycle and mulch ~130 tons/year of green waste from collards, yams, and other produce trimmed on site. Their reason was simple and sobering: they can’t afford to process, market, or move the compost they’ve already produced.
Immediate impact
We were told to stop deliveries immediately. No warning.
In the short term, this material will have to go to our trash compactor — likely more than doubling our hauling costs and sending compostable waste to a landfill. That feels wrong. It violates a number of my core beliefs. But it's all we can do.
What we’re doing now
I’ve reached out to Chandra Farley, Atlanta’s Chief Sustainability Officer, to explore city support and coordination. We’re scoping a new end-to-end system for handling roughly 30 cubic yards/week of green waste.
We’re in early conversation with Ag Atlanta as a potential downstream partner. Getting this figured out during the Holidays won't be easy. The picture here shows what happens if the composter backs up for as little as 24 hours. The mountain of greens never stops coming.
What we need
A sustainable solution that keeps organics out of landfills and reliably processes ~130 tons/year into high-value compost or soil amendments.
Partners with equipment, transport, processing capacity, and/or offtake (urban farms, landscapers, soil companies, institutional buyers).
If your organization can help — or knows who can — I’d love to connect. This is a solvable problem with the right partners, and solving it advances Atlanta’s climate and circular-economy goals while lowering costs for a century-old public market.
Let’s keep 130 tons out of the landfill — together.
#circulareconomy #composting #AtL #publicmarkets #sustainability #foodwaste Amber Robinson Malcolm Benson LaDawna D. Barnes
17 November 2025 à 16h14
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