Agriculture Commons^™

Transforming Organic Waste Into A Marketable Product: A Conjoint Analysis Of Bulk Compost Preferences And Strategies For Expanding The Compost Market In Vermont, Daniel Colin Keeney

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Organic waste management presents challenges and opportunities alike for community-based economic development. Waste-to-compost transformation can be socially and economically successful by employing ecological design principles, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and values-based supply chains (VCs). An analysis of commercial buyers' preferences for compost will inform approaches to forming effective partnerships of public, private and nonprofit stakeholders to develop a market for local waste resource products. The thesis summarizes the results of a consumer preferences survey of current and prospective bulk compost purchasers and discusses strategies for implementing new organic waste management policies that will strengthen a local market for compost, build social capital …