Ryan Green from Happy Trash Can on Public Private Partnerships

About this episode

Ryan Green discusses public-private partnerships in composting and the challenges faced by private composters.

Welcome to Season 4 episode 5 of the Composter. In this episode you get to meet Ryan Green from Happy Trash Can Curbside Composting in Bozeman, Montana. His experience working with the City of Bozeman, navigating public-private partnerships, and processing certified compostable products gives all of us a clearer view of what’s possible when collaboration actually works. There's plenty to be skepitical about when it comes to both composting bio plastics and the way municipalities have been outcompeting experienced, private composters with big grants and public money. But that doesn't have to be the way. Join Ryan to learn from the experiences that Happy Trash Can Curbside Composting has had getting contracts with the city, using bioplastics in his compost system and figuring out how to grow in a changing industry. Check out Happy Compost (👊) on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/happytrashcompost/?hl=en Thank you to our Show sponsors: Green Mountain Technology: visit Compostingtechnology.com and mention The Composter podcast for a free consultation More about BPI: https://bpiworld.org/ Information about the BPI summit and dates for 2026: https://bpiworld.org/2026-bpi-summit…

People in this episode

Host: Jayne Merner

Guest: Ryan Green

Topics covered

• public-private partnerships
• composting
• bioplastics
• municipalities
• sustainability
• collaboration

Keywords

• composting
• bioplastics
• public-private partnerships
• sustainability
• Happy Trash Can
• Bozeman

Sponsors

Green Mountain Technology, AgriLab Technologies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Happy Trash Can, BPI

Places: Bozeman, Montana

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• Produce Stickers: From Nemesis to Dialogue: A Conversation with Scott Howarth · February 25, 2026 · 35 min
• Veteran Compost and Closed Loop Partners on Capital Funding and EPR · February 11, 2026 · 48 min
• 40 Years of Compost Case Studies with Jeff Gage · January 28, 2026 · 1h 7m