Top: Images courtesy Fertile Earthworm Farm, a food scraps collection and composting/vermicomposting company and organic farm in Homestead, Florida.
In Miami-Dade County, Florida, concerned constituents, local farmers, composting industry members and experts, and others have joined forces under the banner of “#Free The Compost” to prevent adoption of (and to amend) the current draft of the county’s Composting Operations ordinance related to Zoning and Environment Protection and to protect the county’s farmers’ right to compost. Fertile Earth Worm Farm, a commercial food scraps composter and organic farm in Homestead in Miami-Dade County, is spearheading the campaign as the ordinance as written threatens its operations. “This ‘Ordinance relating to Zoning and Environmental Protection,’ which is supposed to make composting safer and easier, does the exact opposite,” notes a post on the company’s website. “Instead of creating evidence-based rules, or borrowing from the State’s existing regulations on composting, the ordinance slaps on extra permits and definitions that would effectively shut down the few composting operations that exist now. This sets the stage for a waste management monopoly.”
The origin of this policy traces back to a fire at the county-owned trash incinerator in February 2023 that shut down the facility. This led to a public debate on the future of municipal solid waste management in Miami-Dade County. Along the way, the county decided to develop a Zero Waste Master Plan. Notes Fertile Earthworm Farm’s #Free The Compost post, “In December 2024, a 109-page Report was released from the Mayor’s office with lots of reasonable recommendations, but it ultimately concluded that there wasn’t enough data to make informed regulations. It clearly recommended that county officials seek out expert advice, and even outlined in detail a one-year pilot study to assess what is required to protect our uniquely shallow groundwater. Today, six months later, we learn that an ordinance is already being written behind closed doors, excluding local soil experts and farmers from the process.”
The draft ordinance would restrict farmers to only composting materials from other farms (versus, for example, residential and commercial food scraps), and prohibits farmers from selling their finished compost. It would apply an existing Resource Recovery Permit that regulates incinerators and landfills in the county to commercial composting. States the campaign’s letter to the County Commissioners that it is circulating for others to use: “A Resource Recovery Permit is cost-prohibitive and excessive for composting operations. The permitting should be specific to Composting, like sections 62-709.500 – 62-709.600 of the Florida Administrative Code (FAC) outline. For example, the FAC has specific guidelines for soil sampling and suggested uses for compost based on the results of the analysis. The Ordinance only asks for ‘a sampling and analysis plan for the final compost,’ but it does not detail specific parameters or testing methods beyond that phrase.”
Proposed zoning setbacks in the ordinance will “eliminate the use of most farmland for composting,” states the letter. “As development increases, few farms will have land not within 500-feet of a residential home. The 100-foot setbacks from property lines for housing equipment are excessive, especially considering the land is selling for upwards of $700,000 per acre in Homestead. Protect the Urban Development Boundary by keeping farming and normal farming operations affordable.” Finally, notes the #Free The Compost letter, “to truly make composting a part of the Zero Waste Master Plan, allocate funding for it. Where are the grants, subsidies, and/or bonds for this vital aspect of waste management that the community is asking for? Why do compost programs need to stay small enough to avoid violating the county’s waste management bond ordinance that requires a minimum amount of waste be delivered to contracted facilities? Back up these healthy intentions for a Zero Waste Master Plan with financial support so we can successfully redirect up to 60% of the waste stream and turn it into life-giving soil.”
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