Ray Leard - Turning Compost Into Cash

Green Champions

How can going the extra mile for your customers lead to a million-pound impact?

Ray Leard, the "Compost King" of Central Ohio, talks about the driving forces behind his incredible success with the Compost Exchange. Ray shares invaluable insights into his customer-centric philosophy, the key role pilot programs played in expanding the business, and the challenges he faced in finding facilities to process the staggering amount of food waste collected. With a focus on delivering an unparalleled experience through attention to detail and responsiveness, Ray's innovative approach to composting captured the hearts of over 3,500 members. As he transitions to his next venture, Purely American Organics, Ray's vision is to establish a local processing facility that fosters a sense of community ownership and pride in sustainable living.
Episode in a glance

• The importance of pilot programs in expanding the Compost Exchange
• The difference between residential and commercial composting
• Challenges in finding processing facilities for collected food waste
• Assessing the replicability of Ray's composting success elsewhere
• Ray's customer-centric philosophy: "It's a relationship business"
• How customers shaped the Compost Exchange business
• The remarkably low contamination rates of collected food waste
• The power of small details: Perfectly aligned compost bins
• Bringing local, community-focused processing to Columbus

About Ray Leard

Ray Leard is a sustainability pioneer and the driving force behind the Compost Exchange, the first and largest service provider of residential curbside food scrap recycling and composting in Central Ohio. Over the years, he has diverted over 500 tons of food waste from landfills annually, transforming the way an entire community of over 3 million people approaches food waste. Ray has since sold the Compost Exchange and launched a new organization called Purely American Organics, continuing his mission to empower communities to embrace sustainable practices.

You can connect with Ray and learn more about his work at purelyamericanorganics.com
Resources

Greenacres Compost → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL55voWdgbw

Composting At A Food Bank - Dayton, Ohio → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mYpjw-wDco

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Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. The importance of pilot programs in expanding the Compost Exchange (00:01:44)

3. The difference between residential and commercial composting (00:03:47)

4. Challenges in finding processing facilities for collected food waste (00:07:29)

5. Assessing the replicability of Ray's composting success elsewhere (00:11:23)

6. Ray's customer-centric philosophy: "It's a relationship business" (00:12:24)

7. How customers shaped the Compost Exchange business (00:14:17)

8. The remarkably low contamination rates of collected food waste (00:14:34)

9. The power of small details: Perfectly aligned compost bins (00:17:17)

10. Bringing local, community-focused processing to Columbus (00:20:25)