Veteran Compost and Closed Loop Partners on Capital Funding and EPR

About this episode

A discussion on the current state and future of the composting industry with insights on funding and policy.

In this episode 8 of The Composter, I sit down with Justen Garrity from Veteran Compost and Caroline Barry from Closed Loop Partners for a wide-ranging conversation about where the composting industry is right now and where it’s headed next. A big thread running through this conversation is Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR (no, I hadn’t heard of this before either!) and why it matters so much for composters to be part of these EPR policy discussions early and often. We dig into the realities of de-packaging, the challenges of scaling a composting business, and the mix of grants, loans, and other funding tools that can help move growth forward. Justen Garrity founded Veteran Compost in 2010 after struggling to find work when he came back from Iraq. The tough job market turned out to be the perfect catalyst for starting up a Veteran run compost operation. Justen shares insights about the Veteran Compost operation in Maryland and Virginia. He’s also a shining example of compost policy activism. Caroline Barry is Senior Program Manager at The Closed Loop Center for the Circular Economy, an innovation firm helping businesses solve their most pressing material challenges. She…

People in this episode

Host: Jayne Merner

Guests: Justen Garrity, Caroline Barry

Topics covered

• composting industry
• Extended Producer Responsibility
• funding tools
• composting infrastructure
• food scraps
• policy activism

Keywords

• composting
• EPR
• funding
• infrastructure
• food scraps
• Veteran Compost
• Closed Loop Partners

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Veteran Compost, Closed Loop Partners, The Closed Loop Center for the Circular Economy

Places: Maryland, Virginia

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• Financing the Future of Compost with Jorge Montezuma and Paula Luu · March 25, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Cary Oshins: Cultivating Compost Professionals and a little on CA bioplastics issue · March 11, 2026 · 53 min
• Produce Stickers: From Nemesis to Dialogue: A Conversation with Scott Howarth · February 25, 2026 · 35 min
• 40 Years of Compost Case Studies with Jeff Gage · January 28, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Arnold Schwarzenegger! Composting Innovation in Austria with Aurel Luebke · January 14, 2026 · 1h 7m