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Circular Economy for Food and Organics

Help Shape Kansas City's Future Food and Organics System

Kansas City is developing a Circular Organics Economy—a system that keeps food and organic materials in productive use for as long as possible. Instead of sending valuable resources to landfills, a circular approach prioritizes preventing food waste, rescuing edible food for people, composting food scraps, improving soil health, creating local jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kansas City Circular Organics Economy: A Strategic Plan for Organics Recovery and Food Rescue outlines recommendations to help Kansas City reduce wasted food, expand food recovery programs, increase composting opportunities, strengthen local food systems, and build a more resilient community. The plan identifies opportunities to increase food access, support local businesses, create green jobs, improve neighborhood livability, and advance the City's Climate Protection and Resiliency goals. The plan estimates that implementing its recommendations could divert up to 37,500 tons of material from landfills, avoid 82,200 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and create 56 local jobs.

Before the City moves forward with implementation, we want to hear from you. Please find the KCCEP Report below:

KCCEP Report 7-8-26.pdf

(3.5 MB)

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The Circular Organics Economy Plan is built around six key focus areas:

Planning and Policy
Waste Prevention and Food Recovery
Organics Collection Programs
Infrastructure Investment
Regional End Markets
Local Leadership and Engagement

Together, these strategies aim to create a system where food is used for its highest value—feeding people first, then supporting composting, soil health, renewable energy, and local economic development.

What ideas, concerns, or priorities should Kansas City consider as we work to reduce food waste, rescue edible food, expand composting, and build a Circular Organics Economy?

You may wish to comment on:

Food waste prevention and education
Food rescue and food donation programs
Composting and organics collection services
Neighborhood composting opportunities
Community gardens and urban agriculture
Access to fresh, healthy food
Job creation and workforce development
Environmental justice and equitable access
City policies, incentives, and partnerships
Other ideas that would help Kansas City create a more sustainable and resilient food system

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. We will review community feedback as we refine implementation priorities and future programs.

6 weeks left

Phases

Phases overview

Phase 1: Tell us what you think about the plan!

Tell us what you think about the plan!

Tell us what you think about the plan!

June 9, 2026 5:00 AM - August 31, 2026 4:59 AM

5 comments

Briggs Uhler1 week ago I love the idea of starting in schools - both in that students can learn about (and participate in!) the benefits, as well as using schools as physical community hubs. Could schools host compost pickup programs? They're visible, (generally) centrally located, provide the education benefit, and allow efficiencies in a pickup program to be realized (picking up once vs picking up at each individual home).I also want to caution against forgetting about apartment complexes and condominium communities. They allow for economies of scale and property managers and HOA boards could help with educating residents and providing space for compost pickup program bins. I currently live in a condominium community and the difficulty of using an existing compost pickup service downtown (stolen collection bins, no good places to put bins, etc) is why I don't participate currently.

Lisa Burgess1 week ago About Food Waste BitesFood waste prevention program for the Kansas City food service and retail sectorsFood Waste Bites (FWB) is an effort to eliminate food waste in the Kansas City region’s food service industry. Coordinated by Kansas City Food Wise, FWB takes a hands-on approach to help restaurants, caterers, cafeterias, grocery stores and other food service operations take a comprehensive approach to food waste reduction. By eliminating food waste, your business can: Save money Improve customer service Boost employee morale Reduce food insecurity in the community Help the planet Contact me! Lisa@learningkitchenKC.com

Patricia Carter2 weeks ago

Marie Kay2 weeks ago

Imogen Thomas1 week ago There are some great ideas in here. One that stood out to me was requiring developers to use compost in projects. I'd love to see this adopted for all development projects, but it seems that it could be an easy official/policy requirement to include it as a requirement in all PILOT projects, PIEA projects, UR zone projects, etc -- all projects receiving any form of tax incentive or public subsidy. Another thing that should be considered when rolling out programs is personal cost. Unfortunately, composting at home is already additional labor-- few people will want to (or are able to) pay on top of that. Incentivizing use of services is a place to start. Perhaps creating a way for residents to see the use of their recycling is also a solution: ie, publicly maintained community gardens, compost donation in exchange for food, etc. Benefits for using compost on personal property should also exist: if you produce food at your home, you should receive a credit! Composting systems should also be rolled out in schools. Teaching kids about the process early is beneficial and can increase participation both at home and later in life. This can include not only composting scraps left by students, but also by including urban gardening in curriculum. The document's mention of RND is also interesting. While this seems like a process larger than KC's trash systems, given the presence of agriculture in the area, this may be something worth pursuing, at a county and state level. Addressing something at such scale would require greater regional collaboration.

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