Mid-Missouri lawmaker hopes to get compost legislation across finish line this year

State Rep. Adrian Plank (D-Columbia) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on February 22, 2024, as State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) listens (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at Missouri House Communications)

A Missouri House committee is expected to vote this afternoon on legislation from a Columbia lawmaker to designate the first full week in May as Missouri compost awareness month.

The Missouri House Rural Community Development Committee meets today at noon, and they’re scheduled to vote on House Bill 2241 from State Rep. Adrian Plank (D-Columbia). Representative Plank’s two-sentence bill encourages Missourians to participate in appropriate events and activities that week “to recognize the importance of composting food scraps and yard waste and using compost to create healthier soil.”

Representative Plank’s legislation is backed by the Sierra Club Missouri Chapter, which says it brings awareness to the importance of composting. It’s also supported by the Composting and Organics Association of Missouri, which says it will help keep soil healthy. Missouri’s MOST Policy Initiative describes composting as a process that turns food scraps and other organic materials into nutrient-rich material that can be used as fertilizer.