Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified where Memphis' 176,000 tons of sludge end up. That material, which comes from wastewater treatment plants, is mostly applied to agricultural land or stored for future use.

Memphis has been without a composting service since August, but the city is hoping to have someone to fill that void by year-end. 

The City of Memphis owns a plot of land in Southwest Memphis, near Presidents Island where, up until a few months ago, Atlas Organics ran a composting service, processing organic waste such as food scraps and yard trimmings.

But when Atlas left the Memphis area in August — a move the company attributed to labor and cost troubles — the composting service ground to a halt.

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Now the City of Memphis has issued a new request for proposals, or RFP, for a contractor who can process organic waste and market the final product for at least the next decade. Philip Davis, Memphis’ solid waste director, said they’re accepting applications until at least the end of the month and hope to find someone by the end of the year.

“Finding something better than landfill disposal for that component of our waste stream is not only good for the environment,” Davis said, “it makes good economic sense. It’s what a progressive community does.” 

Davis estimates the city picks up about 75,000 tons of yard waste across Memphis annually, and a little more than one-tenth of that makes it to the composting facility. The other 90% ends up in one of Shelby County’s two landfills, and landfills are one of the biggest sources of methane emissions globally.

Atlas entered the scene a few years when it merged with the Compost Fairy, the subscription composting service that Mike Larrivee started a few years prior. At its peak, more than 2,000 Memphians paid between $20 and $30 per month for Larrivee’s team to pick up containers of organic waste from their curbs. Then, they brought it to the city-owned plot of land in Southwest Memphis where — beginning a few years ago — Atlas Organics processed it, and the Compost Fairy brought nutrient-rich soil back to subscribers.

But the Compost Fairy ended its partnership with Atlas early last fall after Atlas merged with Generate Capital. Atlas inherited the Compost Fairy’s customer base, although Larrivee said the numbers of customers dwindled from 2,000 to about 600; within a year, Atlas and Generate Capital left town, leaving Memphis without a composting service.

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“It was very disappointing to me,” Davis said. “And I know it was very disappointing to the folks in the community, so we’re trying to not let that momentum we had die.”

“We want to conserve that space for those (economic) opportunities, instead of filling it up with leaves and tree branches”

Philip Davis
City of Memphis solid waste director

When Atlas announced it was leaving, Larrivee offered to buy the local operation and assume all of Atlas’ liabilities. But he changed his mind after the City of Memphis proposed a contract with a shorter termination for convenience clause than Larrivee was expecting. 

“I’m heartbroken to see composting go away when there was a simple fix,” Larrivee said.

So, the city put out a call for bids. It plans to continue manning yard waste collection routes and will deliver the material to a contractor, who can process it and market the final product.

The city is also looking for a contractor who could accept biosolids, too, which would be a first for Memphis. Biosolids are the organic material created by the treatment of domestic wastewater and sewage. More than 176,000 tons of sludge come out of the Memphis’ two wastewater treatment plants every year, but it mostly ends up applied to agricultural lands. 

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Davis said they’re looking for a contractor who could develop the first local plan to compost biosolids.

Shelby County’s landfills aren’t pressed for space yet, but Davis said other places, including elsewhere in Tennessee, are dealing with landfill shortages. He said Memphis needs to conserve space for industrial waste, rather than filling its landfills with organic waste that could be processed elsewhere. 

“We want to conserve that space for those (economic) opportunities, instead of filling it up with leaves and tree branches,” Davis said. 

The first deadline in the process — the deadline for potential bidders to submit questions — has already been extended. Davis acknowledged that the city’s goal of finding a contractor by year-end is optimistic, but he said he’s eager to get composting rolling in Memphis again as soon as possible.

Larrivee submitted questions — lots of them, he said — and his decision to bid will be based on how those questions are answered. Either way, he hopes to bring back food waste collection soon.

“The pilot light is on, and there’s a strategy one way or the other to get back to where we were and continue to grow,” Larrivee said.