Turning Food and Green Waste into Value: Advancing Organics Recycling

Organics Recycling is Essential to a Circular Economy

At Circular Services, we see food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic materials as valuable resources—not waste. Through advanced organics recycling technologies, including composting, anaerobic digestion, and de-packaging, we recover nutrients and energy that would otherwise be lost in landfills. By transforming food and green waste into high-quality compost, mulch, and renewable energy, we help municipalities and businesses reduce landfill disposal, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and support a more circular economy.

Why Food Waste Recovery Matters

Food is the single largest category of material sent to U.S. landfills, making up roughly 24% of what’s landfilled nationwide, according to the EPA. Once buried, it breaks down without oxygen and releases methane — a greenhouse gas with far more short-term warming power than CO2. Municipal landfills are already the third-largest source of human-caused methane emissions in the country, and the EPA estimates that landfilled food alone is responsible for an outsized share — an estimated 58% of the fugitive methane escaping from those landfills.

Despite that impact, recovery still lags far behind opportunity: as of the most recent national data, only a small fraction of discarded food generated in the U.S. is composted, per the EPA and FDA. That gap is exactly where Circular Services focuses; properly processed through controlled composting and organics recovery systems, discarded organic materials become valuable outputs that support soil health and reduce environmental impact.

Advanced Organics Recovery

Across our network, Circular Services uses a combination of anaerobic digestion, aerated static pile composting, and advanced de-packaging systems to recover clean organic material from food and green waste streams. Careful screening, contamination removal, and tightly controlled processing allow us to consistently produce high-quality compost and mulch while maximizing diversion from landfill.

Quality Products, Measurable Results

Our focus extends beyond diversion. High-quality compost improves soil health, water retention, and plant performance while reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. Premium mulch conserves moisture, suppresses weeds, moderates soil temperature, and gradually returns organic matter to the soil. Our process ensures consistent products for commercial, municipal, and residential applications. This disciplined approach lets us deliver reliable products that customers can trust, whether for large-scale projects or everyday use.

A Complete Circular Materials Solution

Organics recycling is most effective when integrated into a broader resource recovery strategy. As the nation’s largest privately held recycling and circular economy services provider, Circular Services combines organics recovery with recycling and materials management to help customers reduce emissions, extend landfill life, recover renewable energy, and create value from discarded materials.

Looking Ahead

Demand for food waste recycling and organics recovery continues to grow. Circular Services is expanding its capabilities to serve increasingly complex material streams while maintaining rigorous quality standards. By transforming discarded organic materials into valuable products, we help communities build healthier soils, reduce environmental impacts, and advance a more circular future.

Ready to learn how organics recycling can support your sustainability goals? Connect with our team or explore our Organics Services.