You’ve probably heard the phrase, “One man’s trash is another’s treasure.” The expression rings especially true for USC Iovine and Young Academy alumni Ben Wan. One could say that Wan has devoted his professional attention to, well… taking out the trash. He’s in the business lessening the work associated with reducing waste. Wan has launched Hudson Compost Services, a company that helps households compost easily and efficiently. While he isn’t exactly turning trash into treasure, he is ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills. Your carbon footprint is essentially in his – and his team of trusty compost collectors’ – hands. 

The benefits of composting are numerous. There’s the decreasing of greenhouse gasses, minimization of plastic bag usage, and promoting natural fertilizer production. But there’s that whole saving your food scraps in a bin and figuring out what to do with them thing. And if your county doesn’t have a pick-up service, the process is even more daunting. That’s where Hudson Compost Services comes in – an idea conceived of by Wan when he realized even the most sustainably-minded people have trouble sticking with composting for the long haul. Wan grew up in an environmentally-conscious community in New York’s Westchester County, and when he headed home from USC for the summer after sophomore year, he recognized that some of his neighbors had given up on the method of dealing with waste. 

“I grew up on these values. I was wondering if there's any way that we could keep them composting,” Wan recalled. “‘What would I need to do in order to make you keep composting?’ And I just said, ‘If you had a collection service, was this something that you'd be interested in?’”

The answer was a resounding yes. Partnering with some high school friends, Wan got his concept off the ground with a local pilot program, picking up trash from 25 families and counting by the end of the summer. When he graduated in 2021, there were 50 signed up. Now, four years later, he serves over 500 across the New York City suburbs and has diverted over 300,000 pounds of food waste. 

Hudson Compost Services provides families who subscribe to their service odor and animal proof five gallon bins and a gallon counter top bin, as well as compostable liners and a handy guide on what you can compost. Instead of routing garbage to Westchester’s incinerator, they collect it and haul it to a compost facility where the food gets broken down over time and sold back to local farms, landscapers, and their company to get back in the hands of members, so they can “close the loop on the largest part of our waste stream.” It’s a circular process that keeps accessibility in mind. (Otherwise, people won’t participate.) 

“So all you have to do is the same procedure that you do for normal trash and recycling and to leave it out on the curb and we'll come pick it up once a week,” Wan says. 

For the compost-curious, it’s hard to find a reason not to get involved. 

Wan has always been drawn to innovation that positively impacts the local and global environment. 

“From a super, super young age, I was reading things about nuclear energy and fusion and fission projects and writing papers on it. And just absolutely loved this idea that we could create a society that wasn't consuming so much and then having an end of life for product or energy, but more creating a more circular system.”

As a student, he was able to channel that passion into action as part of the sustainability group at USC. IYA gave him the opportunity to focus on his love for environment projects while also exploring business and design. Instead of going into mechanical engineering as planned, he decided to focus on intersectional learning that would allow him to combine his interests. His childhood curiosities had the opportunity to evolve into entrepreneurial prospects that prompt meaningful change. The success of Hudson Composting Services is a testament to his time at the Academy. Wan admits that even though he started without venture-backed assistance at the beginning, he had expertise that gave him an edge, from knowing how to make a website to creating marketing campaigns to product development and structuring partner equity. 

“All of those things were different skills that I picked up in the Academy and really got to hone in on and understand and become an experienced person in a lot of different fields. I don't think I ever would've been able to get to the point where I am today, where from the beginning I could do so much of this on my own” he shares. 

As Hudson Composting Services grows, Wan is looking at how to expand to a wider range of members like designated municipalities or schools. He calls the industry “historically localized and slow moving,” but he has a vision for scaling the solutions he’s committed to providing beyond a local level. Waste isn’t going anywhere, but if Wan has anything to do with it, there will be less of it damaging our precious planet. 

Ben Wan has launched Hudson Compost Services, a company that helps households compost easily and efficiently. While he isn’t exactly turning trash into treasure, he is ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills. Your carbon footprint is essentially in his – and his team of trusty compost collectors’ – hands. 

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