City Parks & Rec Barters Land Access for Services / Dept. of Prisons Spurs Job Training
This case study was originally published in Keep Compost Local, a report offering survey data, case studies, and policy recommendations to equip governments to collaborate with local composters and foster community prosperity.
Municipality and Interviewees: Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Natalie Walker, Sustainability Director, and Philadelphia Department of Prisons, Laura Cassidy, Sustainability Manager, Operations
Community Composters: Bennett Compost (Tim Bennett, Founder, and Jen Mastalerz, Partner)
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
In August 2020, Bennett Compost — founded in Philadelphia in 2009— signed a long-term contract with the City of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department (Parks & Rec) to locate its composting operation at a Parks & Rec maintenance facility on Rising Sun Avenue in northeast Philadelphia. In exchange, Bennett Compost would collect and compost food scraps from Parks & Rec youth after-school and summer programs, as well as from older adult centers.
In 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) awarded a shorter-term contract to Bennett Compost to collect and compost food scraps from its prison complex. That initial contract opened the door to subsequent contracts with the PDP, e.g., to staff and manage the prison complex’s orchard and greenhouse operations and related vocational training programs.
Municipal Motivation
Parks & Rec: The Department did not have the capacity to collect and compost food scraps from its recreation centers, nor did it have the funds to pay for collection. It operates the City of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center to compost yard trimmings. The facility is not permitted to accept food scraps generated off-site. However, Parks & Rec had an underutilized maintenance facility (referenced in this case study as Rising Sun Ave.) that it could make available via a public-private partnership (PPP) with Bennett Compost. The company was in need of a headquarters building and more space to compost, paving the way for the PPP.
Department of Prisons: The PDP established an on-site, captive composting facility in 2013 to process food scraps from some of the correctional buildings in its complex. Prison staff and incarcerated persons managed and operated the program. The COVID-19 lockdown suspended staff and incarcerated persons’ participation in the project, and the PDP issued a contract ($35,000) to Bennett Compost to continue food scraps collection and composting. A subsequent RFP to manage the orchard and greenhouse in the complex and provide vocational training was awarded to Bennett Compost after several existing contractors withdrew their involvement.
Learning about composting at Bridesburg Afterschool Program. Credit: Joe O’Connor, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
Team member dumping trimmings from collection bag. Credit: Julian Moore-Griffin, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
Composting Activity and Permitting
Bennett Compost assisted Parks & Rec in applying for a G-17 small-scale food scraps composting permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to process food scraps at the Rising Sun Ave. site. The permit was several years in the making and was finally awarded to Parks & Rec in September 2022, enabling Bennett to begin composting. The permit allows for composting of no more than 500 tons (or 1,000 cubic yards) per year of source-separated pre-consumer and postconsumer food scraps. About half of the capital improvements to the site ($55,000 for paving portions of the site and $10,000 for moving existing fences) were covered by a grant to Philadelphia Parks & Rec from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Bennett Compost used its own funds to purchase a skid steer loader and build the concrete block bays for processing.
Bennett Compost mixes incoming food scraps with wood chips from tree trimmers and bedding from the Philadelphia Zoo, as well as with partially composted leaves as needed.
Feedstocks are put in aerated bunkers and covered with screened overs and a tarp (the tarp is required on active piles by the G-17 permit). After curing, compost is screened. The facility has a blending and bagging operation, as well as a vermicomposting system.
Bennett Compost also assisted PDP with its application for a G-17 permit that enables PDP to accept residential food scraps from the neighborhoods near the prison complex. PDP, with Bennett’s assistance, is siting drop-off bins for residents to use. PDP’s composting site has the capacity to manage food scraps from a prison population of 8,000+. As of August 2025, the complex has about 3,500 incarcerated persons. The G-17 permit enables PDP to use its infrastructure to compost food scraps from the surrounding community.
Contract Documents
Parks & Recreation: The initial term of the contract signed with Bennett Compost in 2020 was one year, with the option to extend the term by up to three additional one-year terms. In 2024, the Philadelphia City Council approved an extension to this contract, allowing for additional renewal terms, extending the contract for up to 10 years total. Under the contract, Bennett Compost collects and composts food scraps from Parks & Rec facilities, including the Recreation Centers, older adult centers, and other facilities operated by Parks & Rec. The contracted services are essentially a barter — Parks & Rec does not pay Bennett for food scraps collection, and Bennett does not pay Parks & Rec for use of the Rising Sun Ave. property.
Former Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, at Bennett Compost’s ribbon cutting ceremony. Credit: Julian Moore-Griffin, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
Parks & Rec was awarded an EPA grant to retrofit its yard trimmings composting facility to accept food scraps and intended to issue an RFP for management services. The grant contract had not been signed prior to the change in administration and, therefore, was canceled by EPA in early 2025.
Department of Prisons: PDP awarded its initial contract to Bennet Compost in 2020. In 2021, PDP issued an RFP for management of its orchard and greenhouse programs, as well as a vocational training component developed for incarcerated persons. Bennett was willing to diversify the services it offers and bid on and was awarded the contract. In early June 2025, the PDP issued an RFP to maintain its composting site, transport food scraps from corrections buildings to the composting facility, work with both staff and incarcerated persons to assist in performing the composting services, and provide instruction to those involved in the composting program. Further, the RFP included assisting PDP to identify locations for food scraps drop-off sites in the neighborhood surrounding the prison complex and
transporting food scraps to the complex for composting. The value of the contract is up to $91,000; the term is for one year, and may be renewed for up to four one-year periods (the initial year and any renewal periods). Bennett Compost was preliminarily awarded the contract as of July 17, 2025.
Outreach & Education
The PPPs with Bennett Compost do not formally engage the company to do outreach and education, as both are programs internal to their departments. Parks & Rec received U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) grant funds to support a full-time employee who provided training and technical assistance at Parks & Rec’s recreation and adult centers, including engagement around source separation and diversion of food scraps. After the grant term ended, Parks & Rec hired a fulltime Environmental Education Planner to continue this work.
While not part of its contract with PDP, Bennett Compost is assisting with outreach and engagement to residents in the neighborhoods near the prison complex who will have access to food scraps drop-off bins. Notes Tim Bennett: “Helping with outreach and education may not be in our contract, but for Bennett Compost, we want the project to succeed. It is a collaborative partnership. When submitting a proposal and if selected, during any negotiations, you want to be careful to assess everything that is included in a contract and determine what is and is not within scope from an operational and financial perspective.
Once in, however, we don’t want to question if what is needed to be done is in or out of the contract. At that point, everything is geared to being successful, so there will be more contracts in the future.”
Helping with outreach and education may not be in our contract, but for Bennett Compost, we want the project to succeed. It is a collaborative partnership. When submitting a proposal and if selected, during any negotiations, you want to be careful to assess everything that is included in a contract and determine what is and is not within scope from an operational and financial perspective. Once in, however, we don’t want to question if what is needed to be done is in or out of the contract. At that point, everything is geared to being successful, so there will be more contracts in the future.
Tim Bennett, Founder, Bennett Compost
Compost Markets
As part of the agreement with Parks & Rec, the Department receives a minimum of 75 cubic yards of finished compost delivered by Bennett Compost each spring to distribute among its network of community gardens and orchards. Subscribers to Bennett’s food scrap collection service receive two free 5-gallon bags of compost each year. The remaining compost is sold in reusable 5-gallon sand bags (retail price is $10 per bag) or sold in bulk. All compost produced at the PDP facility is utilized on-site or donated.
Costs & Benefits: Parks & Recreation
Parks & Rec has received grants from the U.S. EPA and USDA to fund its composting initiatives, enabling the Department to support the work with Bennett Compost. At this point, Parks & Rec does not have a budget to expand food scraps composting. In terms of benefits, the PPP with Bennett Compost enables Parks & Rec to divert food scraps from its facilities.
Costs & Benefits: Department of Prisons
Determining financial costs and benefits with its PPPs is challenging because all costs of operations are part of a centralized budget. In terms of an environmental and social cost-benefit analysis, however, the benefits are significant: landfill methane avoidance, as food waste made up a large portion of the complex’s trash stream prior to composting; production of compost used in PDP’s orchards and greenhouses, with produce used in its cafeterias and donated to area food banks; and vocational training.
Costs & Benefits: Bennett Compost
The contract with Parks & Rec is essentially a barter that enabled Bennett Compost to have an expanded and permitted composting site and a building to house its headquarters, which includes bin and bucket storage, blending and bagging, and vermicomposting. A second site and any additional ones established would be for processing done under a paid, contractual agreement. “In our case, the first Parks & Rec PPP was more beneficial to us as a community composter in terms of needed infrastructure,” explains Tim Bennett. “The second and third, e.g., with any city agency wanting to divert food scraps, is only valuable to the extent that we get paid. Parks & Rec brought us an underutilized site and a window into municipal operations and bureaucratic steps. Bennett Compost brought our expertise for collection and composting.”
Filling bag of compost at Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center. Credit: Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
He adds that with PDP, the company has gone through the RFP process multiple times. To be eligible, Bennett Compost has to meet insurance and reporting requirements, which vary depending on the size of the contract. The paperwork is extensive and can be challenging. In general, the primary asset that the City of Philadelphia has is its land, he says. “What they want in exchange isn’t clear.” Bennett has authored a six-part article series for Grid about how Philadelphia can use its assets to do more food scraps composting (links below).
The June 2025 article in Grid describes how the City of Philadelphia could model a curbside pilot after the District of Columbia’s residential curbside food scraps collection pilot. “Partnering with private companies would allow the City to test out the program without committing to the upfront expenses of purchasing additional trucks and hiring additional staff. . . . The City should engage with multiple compost companies to provide the service. These companies should be responsible for providing education and outreach to residents and paid based on the number of households actually participating.”
Funding
Parks and Rec’s funding has been almost exclusively through federal grants. The PDP’s funding is through the Department’s operational budget; it did receive federal (EPA) funding for its first pilot. Bennett Compost finances its operations through its revenues.
PPP Lessons Learned
Parks & Recreation: The PPP with Bennett Compost is viewed by Parks & Rec as a pilot that could be replicated, creating a network of decentralized sites to process food scraps. While the pilot has been successful, Bennett Compost has maxed out the composting capacity available at the Rising Sun Ave. facility; therefore, Parks & Rec has been in conversations with other City agencies about replicating aspects of this PPP model for food scraps management. Another possible avenue is to utilize a PPP that Parks & Rec has with Cambium Carbon, a for-profit company, as a template. Cambion is contracted to help manage woody debris from street trees and parks at the Parks & Rec’s yard trimmings composting site. Cambion subcontracts to Power Corps PHL, which operates a mill and markets and sells the lumber. Power Corps also does workforce development. A portion of the proceeds go back to Parks & Rec for urban forestry initiatives; the Department also gets a discounted rate on materials purchased from the operation. “This is an entirely different PPP model than the one Parks & Rec has with Bennett Compost, but it could serve as a model for how Parks & Rec could issue an RFP for managing food scraps at the yard trimmings facility if it decided to go down that road,” notes Natalie Walker.
Philadelphia Department of Prisons: Keys to successful PPPs are having a fundamental trust between the partners and open lines of communication, notes Laura Cassidy. In PDP’s case, Bennett Compost is “easy to work with collaboratively and goes the extra steps, doing a little more than needs to be done.” Given the bureaucracy within which the composting initiatives are housed, assistance with navigating within the system, e.g., for billing, is important to successful PPPs.
Bennett Compost: PPPs are good to have, but are not essential to the continued growth of Bennett Compost. The company believes that from a residential organics perspective, PPPs with community composters are key because these local companies can deliver services most efficiently and for less cost than larger waste management companies. Among the lessons learned are:
Community composters’ subject matter expertise is an asset to bring to the table in PPPs. This includes collection logistics and fleet selection, composting a putrescible feedstock like food scraps, outreach and education techniques, compost marketing, and more.
Municipal champions are invaluable to assisting with navigating bureaucracies, red tape, and related roadblocks.
Complex partnership agreements open doors for creative problem-solving and solutions, such as budgeting and profit-sharing for compost sales. “Complex partnerships require thoughtfulness that often leads to better results,” explains Bennett. “When things are simple from the beginning, there is less incentive for both parties to deviate or think creatively, as both parties understand and agree on what makes sense.”
Keep Compost Local: A Roadmap for Local Governments to Build Community Prosperity with Composting
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