Developers and compost advocates say New Jersey’s enclosure requirement stalls commercial composting

Commercial composting developers and advocates told the joint Senate and Assembly environment committees that New Jersey’s permitting rules constrain the state’s ability to expand composting capacity and that a tiered regulatory system is needed to allow smaller, lower-risk operations.

Christina Picasso Liu of Vivari Ecologics told the committees that under current recycling rules “class c recycling facilities for food waste composting must operate in an enclosed structure,” a requirement she said “is not informed based on current compost science” and which “destroys the economics of compost facilities.” She said Vivari’s application for plan inclusion in Warren County stalled after months of review and a SWAC vote against inclusion, and that her company’s petition for rulemaking to remove the enclosure requirement was denied by DEP in April 2024; DEP has since held stakeholder meetings and plans further consultation.

Matt Wasserman, vice president and advocacy chair of the New Jersey Composting Council, said the science supports open or aerated approaches for many community and small commercial operations: “The science bears out the fact that you can do open food waste composting, safely,” he testified, and described examples where community-scale systems operated without complaints. He and other witnesses urged DEP to adopt a tiered regulatory framework that would exempt or streamline permitting for small in-vessel or aerated static-pile systems at schools, community gardens and municipal facilities.

Advocates asked for clearer guidance and funding for small-scale sites, noting the state’s dense land use makes siting more difficult than in other states. Gary Sondermayer of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers said larger, centralized anaerobic-digestion projects are coming online, but “where we’re failing is at the small scale” and recommended regulatory reforms such as general permits or registrations to make local composting feasible.

Witnesses also urged DEP and counties to use the food-asset mapping tool described at the hearing to guide siting and to align local health-inspector guidance so donated prepared food can be recovered safely. The panel did not take formal votes; committee members asked for written testimony and said they expect to follow DEP’s stakeholder process.