Minnesota Composting Council Newsletter - March 2026 | | Spring is here! Read on for news, upcoming events, relevant grant applications, and job opportunities. Do you have something you would like to include in next month's newsletter? Email Addie Morrisette. | | Update on Residential Organics Recycling Community Awareness Campaigns | | |
This spring, the Minnesota Composting Council will support four additional Residential Organics Recycling Community Awareness Campaigns. Campaigns utilize customized marketing assets from the Outreach Toolkit available at LoveToCompost.com. Outreach will take place via a variety of channels - from physical billboards to radio advertisements to Facebook posts. The goal of the campaigns is to increase participation and decrease contamination in residential organics collection programs.
Participating communities in spring 2026 include Pope/Douglas counties, Scott County, Carver County, and Resource Renew, the brand of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District. The Minnesota Composting Council is in the process of selecting communities for two upcoming campaign cycles which will take place in fall 2026 and spring 2027.
| | An example of a customized toolkit asset from Resource Renew's upcoming outreach campaign. Resource Renew is the Minnesota Composting Council's newest outreach campaign community partner. | |
Legislative Committee update
There has been no movement on the bills that would the compostable product labeling law making it easier for products to be labeled compostable (HR 3649 / SF 3838). A letter was sent to the authors of the compostable product labeling law when it passed in 2023 explaining the concerns with these proposed amendments. We encouraged them to not support any changes and let us know how the MNCC can be of assistance.
Another bill we're tracking is one that would ban any State Agency from purchasing single-use food-service items (HF 3620 / SF 3941). A letter was sent to the authors of these bills encouraging them to 1. prioritize reuse wherever possible but 2. to allow certified compostable plastic items to be allowable purchases when single-use items are needed. There has been no movement on this bill this session either.
| | | | International Compost Awareness Week May 3-9, 2026 | |
“Compost! Feed the Soil that Feeds Us” is the ICAW theme for 2026. The theme
highlights the critical role compost plays in building healthy soil, supporting productive agriculture, and sustaining the ecosystems that ultimately feed our communities.
Visit the Compost Foundation website to learn more about ways that you can promote compost at your organization during International Compost Awareness Week.
Hosting an event during International Compost Awareness Week? Share the details with the MNCC at compostmn@gmail.com.
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Kevin Tritz Memorial Golf Tournament
August 18, 2026 from 1:30-5 pm
It's time to get your team together to support a great cause. Kevin passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 8, 2020. Kevin was an enthusiastic supporter of the Minnesota compost industry and the greater US compost industry.
The Minnesota Composting Council is pleased to honor the life and legacy of Kevin Tritz by managing the Kevin Tritz Memorial Fund. Every year, the MNCC hosts the Memorial Golf Tournament to support the fund.
| | Public Plate to Garden events in April | | |
4/18: Sherburne County
Location: 10775 27th Ave SE, Becker, MN 55308
Time: 10 am - 1 pm
4/23: Dakota Prairie Composting
Location: 2100 Trail of Dreams NW, Prior Lake, MN 55372
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4/25: City of Hutchinson & Creekside Soils
Location: 1500 Adams St SE, Hutchinson, MN 55350
Time: 10 am - 2 pm
We are no longer scheduling Plate to Garden events for 2026.
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Check out the U.S. Composting Council's new member resource
The Composter Bank Loan Kit
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The draft Bank Loan Kit is a new member resource designed to help composters more effectively engage capital providers and to secure financing to open, expand, or upgrade composting facilities.
The Kit provides standardized, practical tools that translate the composting business model into language familiar to investors and lenders. USCC is seeking input from composters on how well the kit represents composting businesses and meets the real-world financial needs of composters. Your feedback is critical to helping us refine this important resource!
Please explore the materials and provide feedback by April 15.
| | Regen Policy Initiative—USDA Letter on Regenerative Ag Pilot Program | |
The USCC is supportive of the Regen Policy Initiative’s effort to send a letter to the USDA that provides recommendations for the Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program to help ensure that the program improves soil health. Farmers, organizations, and advocates from multiple sectors will be signing on to the letter.
To read the letter that the Regen Policy Initiative Team is sending to Brook Rollins, Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, please click here.
If you are interested in signing onto the letter, you can fill out the Sign-on Form by clicking here.
| | University Scholarship Applications Open | | |
CREF scholarships support undergraduate and graduate students studying composting, soil science, agriculture, environmental science, sustainability, and who are working to advance organics recycling and healthy soils.
Please share this opportunity with students or university programs that may be interested. For full application requirements and more information, visit our University Research page. Deadline for submission is April 15, 2026.
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Statewide organics management infrastructure grant
The MPCA has approximately $10 million available to support organics management infrastructure projects across the state that will expand infrastructure capacity for composting source-separated organic materials (SSOM) in Minnesota with a focus on wasted food and food scraps.
Application deadline: April 15, 2026
| Statewide environmental assistance grants | |
MPCA is offering approximately $250,000 in grant funding to help Minnesota governments, businesses, institutions, and organizations address two specific needs: waste reduction and reuse, and toxic products prevention.
Applications are due no later than 4 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 9, 2026.
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Environmental assistance loans
Environmental assistance loans provide financial assistance to accelerate the application and/or improvement of environmental processes and technologies in Minnesota by providing assistance for the capital costs (machinery and equipment) of eligible projects.
Priority eligible projects: green chemistry, pollution prevention, source reduction, recycling, and organics recycling.
Eligible loan costs: limited to the capital costs of implementing waste or pollution prevention technologies in Minnesota — the costs of acquisition of machinery and equipment, including freight and installation, and related improvements.
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
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Beltrami County to upgrade organics program with specially-designed compost bags | |
THE BEMIDJI PIONEER - Beltrami County's organics program will be upgraded at the beginning of March. In partnership with six regional counties, the Beltrami County Solid Waste Division is introducing specially designed bags to hold organic materials, which will be separated and turned into compost.
The Residential Source-Separated Organics Program is an upgrade of the previous organics program that began in 2018 in partnership with Hubbard, Polk and Clearwater Counties, and has since expanded to include Mahnomen and Norman Counties. Polk County received a grant to install special robots at its Material Recovery Facility in Fosston to make the project a reality. The robots are designed to separate the bags from trash to begin processing them.
| | | Minnesota Opens $10 Million Organics Infrastructure Grant Opportunity | BIOCYCLE - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has opened a substantial funding opportunity aimed at expanding organics management infrastructure across the state. Through its Climate Smart Food Systems (CSFS): Statewide Organics Management Infrastructure Grant, the agency is making approximately $10 million available for projects that will build or enhance capacity to process source-separated organic materials, with a specific focus on wasted food and food scraps. | | | | The MNCC has a Job Opportunities page on our website. Do you have a job posting to promote? Send it to compostmn@gmail.com. | | |
Supervisor of Composting & Wood Processing - Dakota Prairie Composting
Provide direction and leadership to team while operating and maintaining heavy, motorized equipment used for processing/composting food and yard waste, off site wood grinding and colored mulch operations in a safe and efficient manner.
Scale Attendant - Dakota Prairie Composting
Operate the scale house to record in-coming and out-going weights, generate billing information for Finance and accept payments for product sales. Advises and recommends proper application for compost and soil blends to customers. Inspects in-bound loads for contamination.
Heavy Equipment Operator, Composting & Wood Processing - Part Time/Seasonal - Dakota Prairie Composting
Operate a front-end loader or skid-loader to move, manipulate and load organic materials. Load trucks/ trailers with a skid-loader or front-end loader. Load residential customers with compost/mulch products. General site maintenance, heavy equipment cleaning. Performs daily cleaning and inspections, ensuring safety devices are in working order on heavy equipment.
Commercial Manager - Dakota Prairie Composting
Commercial Manager leadership role at a large-scale composting facility responsible for managing a portfolio of existing customer partnerships and soliciting new customers. Leads and oversees offsite grinding and service operations including commercial organics pick up and product sales. Responsible for balancing revenue as well as driving services, ensuring safety, product quality, efficiency, and productivity.
| | Support Composting in Minnesota | | If you have an article, event, idea, or event you'd like to share, please send your submissions to: Addie Morrisette at amorrisette@carvercountymn.gov. | | Follow MNCC on Social Media | | |
The Minnesota Composting Council is dedicated to the development, expansion,
and promotion of the composting industry based upon sound science,
principles of sustainability, and economic viability.
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The Minnesota Composting Council is the MN State Chapter of the United States Composting Council. The Minnesota Composting Council received its non-profit status from the State of Minnesota in January 2013. It officially became the State Chapter of the United States Composting Council (USCC) in December 2013. | | | | |
