A year after Western Market launched an eco-friendly partnership with a waste management company to reduce vendor food waste, the market installed composting bins at food disposal stations to include customers in the initiative.

Western Market placed composting bins at the three trash disposal stations located around Western Market for customers to throw away food scraps, biodegradable to-go containers and eco-friendly utensils, which Compost Cab, a waste management service, then picks up and transports 20 miles away to a composting site, according to vendors and posters in the market. Vendor participation in the initiative — which requires business owners and employees to dispose of all back-of-the-house food waste — is voluntary, and at least four of the market’s 15 vendors currently participate.

Bandoola Bowl, Arepa Zone and Capo Deli are participating in the composting program, according to “Western Market Sustainable Business” stickers posted at the front of their stores. Andy’s Pizza also participates in the program, and The Bussdown DC originally opted in, but the restaurant’s owner said they pulled out of the project a few months ago because they determined it would be more economical for them to reduce waste internally.

“With a set of shared goals and an infrastructure customized to support them, we’ve helped Western Market expand their program from back-of-house-only to include all visitors and guests,” said Jeremy Brosowsky, the founder and CEO of Compost Cab, in an email.

Brosowsky said Western Market initially partnered with Compost Cab in February 2023 through the District’s Food Waste Innovation Grant program — managed by the Department of Small and Local Business Development — which covered the cost of composting equipment. He said the program helped Western Market assess their composting needs and launch a composting program for free. The grant ended in August 2023, and Brosowsky said Western Market decided to “stick with” the program with Compost Cab, beginning their partnership in September 2023.

“Western Market has been a great partner for the community, providing vendors and visitors the opportunity to be sustainable no matter where they work and dine,” Brosowsky said in an email. “They’re a role model for food halls and other culinary hubs looking to start or up their sustainability game.”

Brosowsky said composting bins in Western Market are “strategically located” and labeled throughout the market, and the market’s maintenance staff put the contents from the bin into a “centralized location” for Compost Cab to collect twice per week. He said Compost Cab then transports the materials — about 100 pounds per month — to Prince George’s County for composting.

Aung Myint, the part-owner of Bandoola Bowl, said his business joined the composting initiative last year. He said Bandoola Bowl preps the majority of food at another location, so there isn’t a large quantity of waste, but the organic scraps that do exist are brought to the back-of-the-house composting bin.

Myint said when Western Market rolled out the composting project, Western Market management hosted training with all of the vendors to teach them about the composting process.

“It was easy enough where when someone showed it to you, we jumped on it,” Myint said.

Myint also said Bandoola Bowl uses biodegradable containers, so customers can use the compost bins.

“Most of the time it’s up to the customer,” Myint said. “We don’t really touch the containers after they leave here.”

Andy Brown, the owner and founder of Andy’s Pizza, said the pizza joint began composting about two months ago. He said on the kitchen-side, composting is “easy” because staff set aside food scraps as they work. Brown said the next step is for Western Market vendors to ensure guests know where to dispose of their compostable material.

“Where it really gets hard is communicating to the guests what they’re supposed to do,” Brown said. “We’ve all seen trash cans with like 19 different holes in it and you’re like, ‘What am I supposed to do with my stuff?’”

Solomon Johnson, owner and chef of The Bussdown DC, said Western Market provided composting bags for each of the vendors that fit into the trash bags in their kitchens. He said the market showed business the location — down the corridor where the bathrooms are — of the vendor-only composting bins and left it optional to vendors if they wanted to purchase a specific composting bin beyond the provided bags.

Johnson said The Bussdown DC partook in the initiative at first, but withdrew from the project a few months ago in favor of outsourcing their own composting partner, which he said would allow him to use the composting effort as a tax write-off.

“When we do restart it, we plan on working with some more grassroot-based composting company, so we will be able to reap the benefits of it instead of it going directly to the building,” Johnson said.

Robert Michitsch, a professor of soil and waste resources at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, said diverting materials from landfills to composting venues is a “wonderful” and sustainable initiative, but people must “buy-in” to make the largest impact possible.

Michitsch said with compostable plastics, the industry norms that allow a material to be classified as composable differ from the material’s ability to decompose under natural conditions. Michitsch said under regulated tests, these plastics break down. But when perfect conditions aren’t met — like rain or snow — the plastics don’t compost as easily.

But that assumes the compostable containers overcome people being “lazy” and make it to the designated garbage bin, Michitsch said.

“The idea is to make it easy, you know, having a nice, easy bin system — whether or not its landfill material, recyclable material or organic material,” Michitsch said.

Michitsch said organizations launching composting initiatives should prioritize educating people about the advantages of composting and how the system works to maximize success.

“With the right buy-in, right education and the right infrastructure to motivated people at the same time, it can be a very good venture, even if it’s only capturing a portion of the material,” Michitsch said.

Richard Stehouwer, a former professor of environmental soil science at Pennsylvania State University, said sorting materials — trash from recycling from organic, compostable materials — is a challenge many large-scale composting projects face. He said removing that barrier by using all composable materials would optimize the success of a composting program.

“If they could completely eliminate anything that’s not compostable, that’s how I think they would probably end up with their greatest success,” Stehouwer said.