Finished compost isn't one product. Before it leaves the yard, it gets pushed across a trommel screen, and the size of the openings on that screen decides what the material can be used for.
The common grades
- 3/8” and finer: premium topdressing for lawns, sports turf, and seed blends. Almost no visible debris.
- 1/2”: the workhorse grade for garden beds, raised beds, and landscape mix.
- 3/4” and coarser: agricultural amendment and mulch. Heavier, more fibrous, mixed into fields rather than spread on top.
Why a business should care
If you're spending money on a sustainability program, the soil your waste turns into has a real downstream use. Knowing the screen size at the receiving site tells you whether your scraps are headed for a city park, a market garden, or a wheat field — which is a far better sustainability story than “it got composted.”
